Privilege escalation via current-directory driver loading
Published Aug 11, 2026 · Updated Aug 11, 2026
Untrusted search path in Intel Performance Counter Monitor before release tag 202604 allows local users to escalate privileges on Windows. Affected applications load winpmem and msr.sys from the current directory instead of System32, allowing attacker-controlled code to run in a privileged process. Exploitation requires authenticated low-privilege access, a writable searched directory, passive user interaction, and a high-complexity trigger that starts PCM with greater privileges.
Summary
What happened
Untrusted search path in Intel Performance Counter Monitor before release tag 202604 allows local users to escalate privileges on Windows. Affected applications load winpmem and msr.sys from the current directory instead of System32, allowing attacker-controlled code to run in a privileged process. Exploitation requires authenticated low-privilege access, a writable searched directory, passive user interaction, and a high-complexity trigger that starts PCM with greater privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-32791
- Published
- Aug 11, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 11, 2026
- Vendor
- Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.
- Product
- Intel Performance Counter Monitor (Intel PCM)
- Classifications
- CWE-426, T1574.001
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 11, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 11, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=before version tag 202604
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.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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