Administrative boot-trust bypass via unupdateable component
Published May 12, 2026 · Updated May 12, 2026
Security feature bypass in Microsoft Windows Secure Boot allows local users with administrative privileges to subvert trusted boot enforcement. Secure Boot relies on an unupdateable component, but Microsoft has not identified the component or disclosed the operation that bypasses enforcement. Successful exploitation permits boot software outside the intended trust policy, while the precise downstream actions remain undisclosed.
Summary
What happened
Security feature bypass in Microsoft Windows Secure Boot allows local users with administrative privileges to subvert trusted boot enforcement. Secure Boot relies on an unupdateable component, but Microsoft has not identified the component or disclosed the operation that bypasses enforcement. Successful exploitation permits boot software outside the intended trust policy, while the precise downstream actions remain undisclosed.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-41097
- Published
- May 12, 2026
- Updated
- May 12, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2019
- Classifications
- CWE-1329
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
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=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.8755
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.
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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