Local privilege escalation via kernel use-after-free
Published Jul 14, 2026 · Updated Jul 14, 2026
Use-after-free in the Microsoft Windows Kernel allows local users with low privileges to elevate privileges on affected Windows systems. Microsoft has not disclosed the kernel object, code path, or operation that releases and later reuses the freed memory. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and can provide elevated control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Microsoft Windows Kernel allows local users with low privileges to elevate privileges on affected Windows systems. Microsoft has not disclosed the kernel object, code path, or operation that releases and later reuses the freed memory. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access and can provide elevated control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-50436
- 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
- Jul 14, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- 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.
- Affected versionversion=10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.33158
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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