CVE-2026-50396

Local privilege escalation via driver use-after-free

Published Jul 14, 2026 · Updated Jul 14, 2026

Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows kernel-mode drivers allows local users with low privileges to elevate privileges on affected systems. Microsoft has not identified the specific driver, object-lifetime error, or memory operation that reuses the freed object. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and high complexity; success grants elevated Windows privileges.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability0.28%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows kernel-mode drivers allows local users with low privileges to elevate privileges on affected systems. Microsoft has not identified the specific driver, object-lifetime error, or memory operation that reuses the freed object. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and high complexity; success grants elevated Windows privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-50396
Published
Jul 14, 2026
Updated
Jul 14, 2026
Vendor
Microsoft
Product
Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
Classifications
CWE-416, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 14, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 14, 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=10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.33158

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Microsoft · Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.33158
Microsoft · Windows 11, version 25H2version=10.0.26200.0 <10.0.26200.8875
Microsoft · Windows 11, version 24H2version=10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.8875
Microsoft · Windows 11, version 26H1version=10.0.28000.0 <10.0.28000.2269
Microsoft · Windows Server 2025version=10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.33158

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.0Microsoft CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-416Use After Free
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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