Local privilege escalation via installer permissions
Published May 12, 2026 · Updated May 12, 2026
Incorrect default permissions in Intel NPU Driver for Windows installers before 32.0.100.4511 allow local users to escalate privileges. Intel has not disclosed which installer file, directory, registry object, or service receives the permissive access or how that access is abused. Exploitation requires an authenticated low-privileged user, high attack complexity, additional attack conditions, and active interaction by another user; successful exploitation compromises host confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Summary
What happened
Incorrect default permissions in Intel NPU Driver for Windows installers before 32.0.100.4511 allow local users to escalate privileges. Intel has not disclosed which installer file, directory, registry object, or service receives the permissive access or how that access is abused. Exploitation requires an authenticated low-privileged user, high attack complexity, additional attack conditions, and active interaction by another user; successful exploitation compromises host confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-20718
- Published
- May 12, 2026
- Updated
- May 12, 2026
- Vendor
- Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.
- Product
- Intel NPU Driver
- Classifications
- CWE-276, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 12, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 12, 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=before version 32.0.100.4511
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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