Local privilege escalation through AFD use-after-free
Published Jun 9, 2026 · Updated Jun 9, 2026
Use after free in Microsoft's Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock allows local users to elevate privileges on affected Windows systems. Microsoft identifies improper synchronization of a shared resource but has not disclosed the affected object, function, or stale-reference path. The flaw requires low-privileged local access and a high-complexity race; successful exploitation grants elevated privileges on the host.
Summary
What happened
Use after free in Microsoft's Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock allows local users to elevate privileges on affected Windows systems. Microsoft identifies improper synchronization of a shared resource but has not disclosed the affected object, function, or stale-reference path. The flaw requires low-privileged local access and a high-complexity race; successful exploitation grants elevated privileges on the host.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-45596
- Published
- Jun 9, 2026
- Updated
- Jun 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2019
- Classifications
- CWE-362, CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jun 9, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 9, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.8880
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
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo