Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain local low-privileged access
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DeliveryTrigger use-after-free in kernel object
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ExploitWin race to reclaim freed memory
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ExecutionCorrupt kernel structures, execute code
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ImpactElevate to 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 | Requires the attacker to already possess local, authenticated low-privilege code-execution on the target host (AV:L, PR:L); there is no remote or network-reachable vector. Exploitation hinges on winning a use-after-free race condition in the kernel, reflected by the high attack complexity (AC:H) - the attacker must reliably trigger the free-then-reuse timing window, which is non-deterministic and may require many attempts. No user interaction is needed (UI:N). The chief limiting factors are the need for prior local access and the timing-dependent race, which together make reliable, automated exploitation difficult (SSVC Automatable: no). |
| Impact | This is a moderate-priority local privilege escalation in the Windows Kernel (CVSS 7.0). The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U) shows the attacker must already have local, authenticated low-privilege code execution on the host and must overcome high attack complexity - consistent with a use-after-free race condition that requires precise timing to win. Impact is total (C:H/I:H/A:H), matching SSVC's 'Technical Impact: total,' since successful exploitation yields kernel-level (SYSTEM) control. However, the risk signals point toward lower real-world urgency than the severity alone suggests: SSVC reports 'Exploitation: none' and 'Automatable: no,' there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit was identified in the provided data. No EPSS score was provided, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified. The AC:H and PR:L prerequisites plus non-automatable classification mean this is a second-stage/post-compromise escalation tool rather than an internet-facing emergency. Net: patch on a normal prioritized cadence; it is a genuine EoP but not currently an actively-exploited, mass-weaponizable threat. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who has already gained a foothold as a standard (low-privileged) local user - for example via phishing-delivered malware or a compromised service account - runs code that repeatedly triggers and races the vulnerable kernel object's free/reuse window. On a successful race, the dangling pointer is reclaimed with attacker-controlled data to corrupt kernel memory and elevate to SYSTEM. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, and the high attack complexity (race condition) makes reliable exploitation non-trivial. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 14, 2026
Local privilege escalation in the Windows Kernel allows an attacker who already holds low-privileged code execution on a host to raise their privileges - potentially to SYSTEM - by triggering a use-after-free (CWE-416) in kernel memory handling. Exploitation depends on two conditions that keep risk moderate: the attacker must first obtain local, authenticated access (AV:L/PR:L, with no network-reachable vector), and they must win a non-deterministic free-then-reuse race window (AC:H), which CISA's SSVC assessment reflects as Automatable: no. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and exploitation status is recorded as none; Microsoft has released vendor patches covering all supported Windows client and server branches.
RemediationAI
Patch status is 'Patch available per vendor advisory' - Microsoft has released fixes, and the remedy is to apply the current cumulative update for each branch so that the build reaches or exceeds the fixed threshold: for example 10.0.26100.9711 for Windows 11 24H2, 10.0.26200.9711 for Windows 11 25H2, 10.0.22631.7652 for Windows 11 23H2, 10.0.19044.7807 for Windows 10 21H2/22H2, 10.0.20348.5761 for Windows Server 2022 and 10.0.26100.33650 for Windows Server 2025/Server Core, with corresponding builds for Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2016 and 2019; consult https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-85372 for the exact build for each SKU. Because exploitation requires an attacker to already hold local low-privileged code execution, the highest-value compensating controls are those that shrink that prerequisite: enforce least privilege and remove unnecessary local administrator and service accounts, restrict interactive and RDP logon on high-value hosts, and deploy application allowlisting (WDAC/AppLocker) plus attack surface reduction rules so untrusted code cannot run locally in the first place - the trade-off is operational friction when legitimate local tooling is blocked. Enabling kernel pool hardening and Microsoft Defender Exploit Protection mitigations (for example Code Integrity Guard and arbitrary code guard where supported) can reduce the reliability of the free-then-reuse primitive, but they are probabilistic against a race condition and are not a substitute for the cumulative update; note also that the same flaw can crash the kernel, so monitoring for unexpected bugchecks and memory-corruption telemetry provides detection for failed exploitation attempts.
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 use-after-free (CWE-416) in the Windows kernel, the memory-management and object-lifetime core of the NT operating system - the layer that manages pool allocations, kernel objects, and the token/privilege structures that define what a process is allowed to do. A use-after-free occurs when the kernel frees a pool allocation but retains (or later dereferences) a pointer to it; if an attacker can arrange for the freed memory to be reallocated with attacker-influenced contents before that dangling pointer is used, the kernel can be induced to operate on a corrupted object, typically yielding memory corruption that can be steered into privilege escalation by overwriting security-relevant kernel data. The high attack complexity (AC:H) in the assessed vector reflects that the vulnerable window is timing-dependent: the attacker must reliably synchronize the free and the subsequent reuse across kernel execution paths, which is non-deterministic and may require repeated attempts. Because the same corruption can also crash the kernel, the multi-source tags appropriately flag Denial Of Service and Memory Corruption alongside Use After Free. The affected version matrix spans Windows 10 (1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2), Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2, 26H1, 26H2), and Windows Server 2012 through 2025 (including Server Core installations), indicating a long-lived shared kernel code path rather than a branch-specific feature; the affected component is not further disaggregated in the available data, and no CPE strings were supplied.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Kernel UAF needs prior local low-priv access (AV:L, PR:L) and a timing-dependent race (AC:H); successful exploitation grants SYSTEM, giving full C:H/I:H/A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Use after free in Windows Kernel allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
A high-severity privilege escalation flaw in the Windows Kernel (CVE-2026-85372) would let an attacker who has already gained a foothold on a Windows endpoint or server elevate to full SYSTEM control of that machine, effectively turning a limited intrusion into complete host takeover. Because the flaw requires pre-existing local access and a difficult-to-win memory race, and because no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, the practical risk today is driven mainly by unpatched systems rather than an active campaign. Microsoft has released vendor patches covering all supported Windows client and server branches, so leadership should treat this as a patch-debt and endpoint-hygiene issue affecting the entire Windows estate.
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
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-2026-99495
GHSA-4q9c-g9xp-994p
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB