Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain authenticated local foothold
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DeliveryInteract with Clipboard User Service
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ExploitTrigger use-after-free condition
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ExecutionWin race to reclaim freed memory
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ImpactExecute code with elevated 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 the attacker to already have authenticated local access as a low-privileged user (PR:L) with the ability to run code that interacts with the Windows Clipboard User Service; there is no network vector and no user interaction by a victim (AV:L/UI:N). The limiting factor is the high attack complexity (AC:H): as a use-after-free (CWE-416), reliable exploitation almost certainly depends on winning a race condition to reallocate freed memory with attacker-controlled data, making exploitation timing-sensitive and non-deterministic. Affected systems are supported Windows releases below the patched builds (e.g., Windows 11 24H2 below 10.0.26100.9711, Windows 10 1809/Server 2019 below 10.0.17763.9376, Server 2022 below 10.0.20348.5761); patched builds are not vulnerable. No special non-default configuration is called out - the Clipboard User Service is a standard per-user Windows service. |
| Impact | This is a moderate-priority, real-but-not-urgent elevation-of-privilege flaw. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH) is driven by total technical impact (C:H/I:H/A:H) and a scope change (S:C), but the exploitability metrics temper real-world risk: AV:L requires local access, PR:L requires the attacker to already be an authenticated/authorized local user, and AC:H indicates exploitation is non-trivial - consistent with a use-after-free that likely depends on winning a race condition. CISA's SSVC decision framework corroborates a lower operational urgency: Exploitation=none (no observed or public exploitation), Automatable=no (cannot be reliably mass-exploited), while Technical Impact=total aligns with the full C/I/A compromise. There is no CISA KEV listing and no POC referenced in the provided data, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis - the signals are internally consistent (low exploitation probability, high but conditional impact), with no conflicts between the CVSS vector, SSVC, and exploitation status. Note that EPSS is not provided in the input, so probabilistic exploitation likelihood could not be factored. In short: a genuine local privilege-escalation primitive useful as a post-compromise step, but not a remote, wormable, or currently-exploited threat - patch on a normal Patch Tuesday cadence rather than emergency. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who has already gained low-privileged code execution on a Windows host (e.g., via phishing, a compromised standard user account, or a chained initial-access bug) interacts with the Clipboard User Service to trigger a use-after-free, winning a memory-reuse race to corrupt freed memory. Successful exploitation elevates them from a limited user to higher privileges, enabling full compromise of the system. No public exploit is identified at time of analysis, and the high attack complexity (AC:H) means reliable exploitation requires precise timing. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
Local privilege escalation in the Windows Clipboard User Service lets an authenticated low-privileged attacker who can already run code on a target host raise their rights to SYSTEM-level by triggering a use-after-free in the service's memory handling. Exploitation is timing-sensitive rather than trivial: the CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H) reflects that the attacker needs local authenticated access and must win a race to reclaim freed memory, but no victim interaction and no network path are required, and the resulting scope change means full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the host. Microsoft has released fixed builds for all affected Windows branches, and as of analysis there is no public exploit code and no confirmed active exploitation (CISA SSVC exploitation: none); this is a moderate-priority, real-but-not-urgent elevation-of-privilege flaw that matters most on multi-user, RDP, or kiosk-style systems where untrusted users share a session host.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor patch for the affected branch: Windows 11 24H2 to build 10.0.26100.9711, Windows Server 2025 to 10.0.26100.33650, Windows 11 23H2 to 10.0.22631.7652, Windows 11 25H2 to 10.0.26200.9711, Windows 11 26H2 to 10.0.26300.9711, Windows 11 26H1 to 10.0.28000.3231, Windows Server 2022 to 10.0.20348.5761, Windows 10 1809 and Server 2019 to 10.0.17763.9376, Windows 10 1607 and Server 2016 to 10.0.14393.9612, and Windows 10 21H2/22H2 to 10.0.19044.7807, following the Microsoft advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-85863. Because exploitation requires an authenticated local foothold, the most effective compensating controls until patching is complete are to reduce who can log on locally: remove or tightly scope local accounts and RDP rights so untrusted users cannot reach an interactive or clipboard-capable session (trade-off: limits legitimate remote administration and VDI/kiosk use). Organizations that do not use clipboard history or cross-device clipboard sync can disable those features via policy (AllowClipboardHistory / AllowCrossDeviceClipboard set to disabled) or stop/disable the per-user clipboard user service to reduce the exposed surface, accepting that copy/paste history and clipboard roaming will be lost and that some applications and RDP clipboard redirection scenarios may misbehave. Monitor for unusual process creations or token changes originating from clipboard-related processes, and treat this as a post-compromise escalation path rather than a remotely reachable bug, prioritizing multi-user and RDP session hosts and kiosk systems where PR:L access is routinely granted to lower-trust users.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 16 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 Clipboard User Service, the per-user component that brokers clipboard operations such as clipboard history and cross-device clipboard sync. Use-after-free means the service frees a heap object but continues to reference the dangling pointer; if an attacker can reallocate that same memory region with controlled data before the stale pointer is dereferenced, the service can be made to operate on attacker-supplied content, yielding memory corruption that is convertible into code execution in the service's security context. The CVSS scope-changed metric (S:C) indicates the exploited component can affect resources beyond its own security authority, which is why a low-privileged local user escalating through this service can reach a higher-integrity context. The high attack complexity (AC:H) is consistent with a heap-grooming and reallocation race that is inherently non-deterministic: the attacker must repeatedly trigger the vulnerable clipboard operation and shape heap layout to land the reuse window, so reliability varies by workload and system state. Affected code is present in the standard Windows desktop, Server, and Server Core code bases, across the 1607/1809/19044/19045/17763/20348/22631/26100/26200/26300/28000 build families as enumerated by ENISA EUVD; patched builds are not vulnerable.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local-only UAF (AV:L) requiring an authenticated low-priv user (PR:L) and a race window (AC:H); scope change (S:C) as the service boundary is crossed, yielding full C/I/A on privilege escalation.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Use after free in Windows Clipboard User Service allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
A local privilege escalation in the Windows Clipboard User Service can allow an authenticated low-privileged attacker who already has code execution on a host to gain SYSTEM-level rights, potentially leading to full compromise of that Windows endpoint. The risk is highest on multi-user, RDP, or kiosk-style systems where untrusted users share a host, but no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis and a vendor patch is available. Leadership should prioritize patching these systems to prevent a local user from escalating to full host control.
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-2026-99566
GHSA-pq2w-v8ch-7qh2
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB