Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain local low-privileged account
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ExploitInvoke Windows Search Component with crafted input
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ExecutionTrigger out-of-bounds read (CWE-125)
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ImpactDisclose adjacent process memory
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the attacker to already possess local, authenticated low-privileged access to the Windows host (CVSS PR:L, AV:L) and to interact with the Windows Search Component so that it processes attacker-influenced input triggering the out-of-bounds read. Limiting factors that reduce realistic risk: there is no remote or network vector, no unauthenticated path, and the SSVC assessment marks the flaw as non-automatable with only partial technical impact - the outcome is memory disclosure (C:H) with no integrity or availability effect (I:N/A:N). The description states no special non-default configuration is needed beyond having the Search Component present, which is standard across all affected Windows editions. |
| Impact | This is a moderate-severity local information disclosure flaw (CVSS 5.5) with multiple signals pointing to LOW real-world urgency despite the HIGH confidentiality impact. The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) requires local access and existing low-level privileges (PR:L), meaning an attacker must already have authenticated foothold on the host - there is no remote or unauthenticated path. CISA's SSVC framework reinforces low priority: Exploitation=none (no observed or public exploitation), Automatable=no (cannot be reliably scripted at scale), and Technical Impact=partial. There is no KEV listing and no public exploit (POC) identified, consistent with the SSVC 'none' exploitation state. No EPSS score was supplied in the input, so probabilistic exploitation likelihood cannot be quantified here. Taken together, this is a HIGH-CVSS-C-impact-but-LOW-real-risk issue: the C:H rating reflects that an OOB read can leak sensitive memory contents, but the local vector plus required privileges, non-automatable nature, and absence of any exploitation evidence make this a routine patch-cycle item rather than an emergency. The only notable tension is the 'Buffer Overflow' tag versus the actual weakness (CWE-125 out-of-bounds READ) - an over-read discloses memory rather than corrupting it, which aligns with I:N/A:N; treat the 'Buffer Overflow' label as imprecise. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A local attacker who already holds a standard (low-privileged) account on a Windows host triggers the Windows Search Component to process crafted input, causing an out-of-bounds read that returns adjacent memory contents the attacker should not be able to see. This could leak sensitive data such as credentials, tokens, or address-space information useful for chaining further attacks. No public exploit code has been identified, and exploitation requires local authenticated access rather than remote delivery. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 14, 2026
An out-of-bounds read in the Microsoft Windows Search Component lets an authenticated attacker with only low-privileged local access cause the component to read past the end of a buffer and disclose information from process memory. Exploitation requires the attacker to already hold local interactive access to the host (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N) and to induce the Search Component to process attacker-influenced input; there is no network or unauthenticated path, and the outcome is memory disclosure only, with no integrity or availability impact. No public exploit code has been identified and CISA's SSVC assessment records exploitation as none, so this is a moderate-severity (CVSS 5.5) local information-disclosure issue with low real-world urgency despite its high confidentiality rating, though the vendor has released fixed builds for all affected Windows editions.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: apply the Microsoft monthly security update that moves each affected release to or above its fixed build - Windows Server 2019 / Windows 10 1809 to 10.0.17763.9376, Windows 11 23H2 to 10.0.22631.7652, Windows 11 24H2 to 10.0.26100.9711, Windows 11 25H2 to 10.0.26200.9711, Windows Server 2025 to 10.0.26100.33650, Windows 10 21H2 / 22H2 to 10.0.19044.7807, Windows Server 2022 to 10.0.20348.5761, Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 1607 to 10.0.14393.9612, Windows Server 2012 R2 to 6.3.9600.23470, Windows Server 2012 to 6.2.9200.26434, Windows 11 26H2 to 10.0.26300.9711, and Windows 11 26H1 to 10.0.28000.3231; track availability and supersedence through https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-70173 and NVD at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-70173. Where immediate patching is not possible, the exposure is confined to locally authenticated attackers, so reduce the number of low-privileged interactive principals on affected hosts (restrict RDP and local logon rights, remove unnecessary local accounts), and terminate or disable the Windows Search service (WSearch) and Indexing on hosts that do not need desktop search - with the side effect that search, indexing and some Explorer functionality degrade, and note that disabling the service is only a partial control because other components can consume the same parsing code path. Application allow-listing and least-privilege hardening of interactive users limit who can reach the vulnerable code path, but no configuration change fully eliminates the risk, so patched builds remain the only complete fix.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 20 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The flaw is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in the Microsoft Windows Search Component, the indexing and content-query subsystem that parses and processes files, property handlers and index data on behalf of the operating system. The root cause class is insufficient bounds validation: when the component handles attacker-influenced input, it can compute an index or length that exceeds the allocated buffer and then read memory beyond that boundary rather than faulting cleanly, returning data that an attacker can observe. The CVSS vector (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) confirms the read is locally triggerable with low privileges, requires no user interaction and stays within the same security scope, and produces a high confidentiality impact with no integrity or availability effect. Because out-of-bounds reads in a long-running system component can leak heap or stack contents and potentially undermine ASLR, the practical value to an attacker lies in memory disclosure for follow-on exploitation rather than direct code execution. The affected CPE population spans Windows client and server builds, and the vendor's EUVD build-number ranges show the Search Component is present and vulnerable across Windows 10 (1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2), Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2, 26H1, 26H2) and Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2025, including Server Core installations.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Local info-disclosure requiring an existing low-privileged account gives AV:L/PR:L/UI:N; an out-of-bounds read yields C:H with no I/A impact and unchanged scope.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Out-of-bounds read in Microsoft Windows Search Component allows an authorized attacker to disclose information locally.
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
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
EUVD-2026-99183
GHSA-3crh-9fv9-73ff
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB