Local privilege escalation via freed IME object reuse
Published Jul 8, 2025 · Updated Feb 13, 2026
Use-after-free in Microsoft Input Method Editor on affected Windows releases allows local users to elevate privileges through local access. The IME reuses an object after its memory has been freed, but Microsoft has not disclosed the triggering input or code path. An attacker needs low-privileged local access, no user interaction, and a successful high-complexity trigger to cross a security boundary and gain elevated control.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Microsoft Input Method Editor on affected Windows releases allows local users to elevate privileges through local access. The IME reuses an object after its memory has been freed, but Microsoft has not disclosed the triggering input or code path. An attacker needs low-privileged local access, no user interaction, and a successful high-complexity trigger to cross a security boundary and gain elevated control.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-47991
- Published
- Jul 8, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 13, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2019
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 8, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 13, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.7558
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.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo