CVE-2026-61407

Privilege escalation via exposed IOCTL access

Published Aug 18, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026

Privilege escalation in Dell Watchdog Timer Driver before 2.0.0.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges via the driver IOCTL interface. Dell has not disclosed the specific IOCTL code or handler, but the advisory states that the driver exposes an IOCTL path with insufficient access control, allowing low-privileged callers to issue operations intended for higher privilege. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access on a system with the vulnerable driver installed, and Dell's published CVSS vector indicates complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact after elevation.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.10%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Dell Watchdog Timer Driver before 2.0.0.1 allows local users to gain elevated privileges via the driver IOCTL interface. Dell has not disclosed the specific IOCTL code or handler, but the advisory states that the driver exposes an IOCTL path with insufficient access control, allowing low-privileged callers to issue operations intended for higher privilege. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access on a system with the vulnerable driver installed, and Dell's published CVSS vector indicates complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact after elevation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-61407
Published
Aug 18, 2026
Updated
Aug 20, 2026
Vendor
Unity Technologies
Product
Dell Watchdog Timer Driver
Classifications
CWE-698, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 20, 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=0 <2.0.0.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Unity Technologies · Dell Watchdog Timer Driverversion=0 <2.0.0.1

Published CVSS scores

8.8DellCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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.

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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-698Execution After Redirect (EAR)
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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