Local privilege escalation via Win32k type confusion
Published Aug 12, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026
Type confusion in Windows Win32k ICOMP allows local users with low privileges to gain elevated privileges on affected Windows builds. Win32k ICOMP accesses a resource through an incompatible type, and Microsoft also maps the defect to a heap-based buffer overflow. A local low-privileged account is required; successful exploitation grants elevated control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Summary
What happened
Type confusion in Windows Win32k ICOMP allows local users with low privileges to gain elevated privileges on affected Windows builds. Win32k ICOMP accesses a resource through an incompatible type, and Microsoft also maps the defect to a heap-based buffer overflow. A local low-privileged account is required; successful exploitation grants elevated control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-50168
- Published
- Aug 12, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 26, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
- Classifications
- CWE-122, CWE-843, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 12, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 26, 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 <10.0.26100.4946
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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