Local privilege escalation via WalletService race condition
Published Jan 13, 2026 · Updated Jan 13, 2026
Race condition in Microsoft Windows WalletService allows local users to elevate privileges through concurrent access to a shared resource. WalletService permits concurrent code paths to access that shared resource without the synchronization needed to preserve exclusive, atomic state changes. Local execution and winning a high-complexity timing race are required; successful exploitation grants elevated permissions with broad system impact.
Summary
What happened
Race condition in Microsoft Windows WalletService allows local users to elevate privileges through concurrent access to a shared resource. WalletService permits concurrent code paths to access that shared resource without the synchronization needed to preserve exclusive, atomic state changes. Local execution and winning a high-complexity timing race are required; successful exploitation grants elevated permissions with broad system impact.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-20853
- Published
- Jan 13, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 13, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows 11, version 25H2
- Classifications
- CWE-362, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 13, 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=10.0.26200.0 <10.0.26200.7623
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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