Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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ReconAuthenticate as low-privilege local user
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Deliverylocate WER IPC/trigger surface
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Exploitinduce controlled allocation-free cycle
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Installwin race condition via heap grooming
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C2dereference freed pointer with attacker-controlled data
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Executeexecute code in WER's elevated context
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Impactobtain SYSTEM privileges
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory lifecycle management
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an authenticated low-privileged local user account on the vulnerable Windows system (PR:L from CVSS). The attack complexity is high (AC:H), meaning the attacker must overcome a race condition or specific memory-layout constraint - exploitation is not reliable without tooling or multiple attempts. No user interaction from a victim is required once the exploit is staged (UI:N). The vulnerability is confined to local access (AV:L); network-accessible attack paths are not established. Affected configurations are Windows 11 Version 24H2/25H2/26H1 and Windows Server 2025 running unpatched builds. Systems already patched to the fix build thresholds listed in the EUVD are not vulnerable. |
| Impact | Real-world risk is moderate-to-high for environments where untrusted local users can run code on affected Windows 11 or Server 2025 endpoints - multi-user systems, shared workstations, terminal servers, and VDI environments are the primary concern. The CVSS 7.0 score (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) reflects that exploitation is not trivial: the AC:H metric indicates a race condition or precise heap-layout requirement, raising the bar compared to straightforward LPE bugs. EPSS data is not provided; without a public exploit, opportunistic mass exploitation is unlikely, but skilled threat actors with established local footholds would find this a valuable stepping-stone to SYSTEM. No CISA KEV listing and no POC are identified, which collectively deprioritize this relative to actively-exploited LPE bugs, though the full-triad impact (C:H/I:H/A:H) means successful exploitation yields complete system compromise. Defenders should prioritize patch deployment on multi-user servers and workstations with shared access, as single-user home endpoints present lower marginal risk from this class of vulnerability. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with a low-privileged local account on a shared Windows Server 2025 terminal server triggers a race condition in WER's memory management - for example, by repeatedly causing or simulating crashes that drive WER to allocate and free memory - until a freed object is reclaimed with attacker-controlled content. When WER subsequently dereferences the stale pointer, execution is redirected to attacker code running in WER's elevated context, yielding SYSTEM-level privileges. No public POC has been identified; successful exploitation requires non-trivial heap-grooming or timing control. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 09, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Windows Error Reporting (WER) on Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 is possible through a use-after-free (CWE-416) memory corruption flaw exploitable by a low-privileged authenticated user. The CVSS 7.0 vector (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L) indicates the attack requires local access and elevated complexity - consistent with a race condition or specific timing requirement to win the freed-memory reuse - but no user interaction once staged. Microsoft has released patches; no public exploit code or CISA KEV listing is identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
The primary fix is to apply Microsoft's cumulative update raising Windows 11 24H2 to build 10.0.26100.9445 or later, Windows 11 25H2 to 10.0.26200.9445 or later, Windows 11 26H1 to 10.0.28000.2954 or later, and Windows Server 2025 (full and Server Core) to 10.0.26100.33438 or later. The Microsoft Security Response Center advisory is available at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-69896. As a compensating control where immediate patching is not feasible, restrict interactive local logon rights on exposed multi-user systems to only the accounts that require them (via Local Security Policy or Group Policy: 'Allow log on locally'), which removes the PR:L prerequisite for most attack paths. Note that restricting WER itself via Group Policy (disabling Windows Error Reporting) may prevent exploitation but will also suppress crash telemetry and debugging capabilities - weigh that operational trade-off before applying.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 5 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
Windows Error Reporting (WER) is a system-level Windows service responsible for collecting, logging, and transmitting crash and exception telemetry. Because WER operates with elevated privileges to access crash data from arbitrary processes - including kernel-mode components - a memory safety flaw in its code paths has direct privilege-escalation potential for a low-privileged caller. CWE-416 (Use After Free) occurs when a memory region is freed but a dangling pointer remains accessible; an attacker who can control memory layout and timing may reclaim the freed region with attacker-controlled data before the dangling pointer is dereferenced, redirecting execution. The AC:H metric in the provided CVSS vector reflects the synchronization or heap-grooming complexity typical of exploitable UAF chains. Affected products per EUVD data: Windows 11 Version 24H2 (builds 10.0.26100.x), Version 25H2 (10.0.26200.x), and version 26H1 (10.0.28000.x); Windows Server 2025 in both full and Server Core configurations (10.0.26100.x).
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local access with low-privilege account required; AC:H reflects UAF race-condition exploitation; full C/I/A impact from privilege escalation to SYSTEM.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Use after free in Windows Error Reporting allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
Windows Error Reporting in Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability (CVSS 7.0) enabling authenticated users to escalate to system administrator level. Organizations must prioritize patching Windows Server 2025 infrastructure as successful exploitation could grant attackers full system control and enable lateral movement across enterprise networks.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.
Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to access memory through a pointer after that memory has been deallocated.
Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.
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EUVD-2026-73049
GHSA-mw3p-3cr2-xg93
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB