Local privilege escalation via GRFX use-after-free
Published Apr 8, 2025 · Updated Aug 10, 2026
Use-after-free in Windows Win32K GRFX allows local users on affected Windows builds to elevate privileges through local interaction. The GRFX component reuses or references an object after its memory is freed, causing operations to target stale kernel memory. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, a high-complexity condition, and user interaction; success elevates the attacker's privileges.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Windows Win32K GRFX allows local users on affected Windows builds to elevate privileges through local interaction. The GRFX component reuses or references an object after its memory is freed, causing operations to target stale kernel memory. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, a high-complexity condition, and user interaction; success elevates the attacker's privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-26681
- Published
- Apr 8, 2025
- Updated
- Aug 10, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 8, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 10, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.3775
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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