CVE-2026-20738

Local privilege escalation through untrusted pointer dereference

Published May 12, 2026 · Updated May 12, 2026

Untrusted pointer dereference in Intel QuickAssist Adapter 8960 software before 1.13 allows local users to escalate privileges on Windows. Intel identifies the affected locus only as Ring 3 user applications and does not disclose the specific pointer-handling path. A low-privilege authenticated local user needs no user interaction or special internal knowledge and can compromise system confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

CVSS severity8.5
High
EPSS probability0.11%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Untrusted pointer dereference in Intel QuickAssist Adapter 8960 software before 1.13 allows local users to escalate privileges on Windows. Intel identifies the affected locus only as Ring 3 user applications and does not disclose the specific pointer-handling path. A low-privilege authenticated local user needs no user interaction or special internal knowledge and can compromise system confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-20738
Published
May 12, 2026
Updated
May 12, 2026
Vendor
Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.
Product
Intel QuickAssist Adapter 8960 software
Classifications
CWE-822, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 12, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=before version 1.13

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. · Intel QuickAssist Adapter 8960 softwareversion=before version 1.13

Published CVSS scores

8.5Intel CorporationCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-822Untrusted Pointer Dereference
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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

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Your stack

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