Authenticated privilege escalation via Search use-after-free
Published Sep 8, 2026 · Updated Sep 10, 2026
Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows Search Component allows remote authenticated users to elevate privileges through network access. Microsoft identifies reuse of freed memory in the Search component but has not published the affected function, object-lifetime error, or triggering request. Exploitation requires low privileges, high complexity, and user interaction, and successful abuse compromises confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows Search Component allows remote authenticated users to elevate privileges through network access. Microsoft identifies reuse of freed memory in the Search component but has not published the affected function, object-lifetime error, or triggering request. Exploitation requires low privileges, high complexity, and user interaction, and successful abuse compromises confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-69305
- Published
- Sep 8, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 10, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2019
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 10, 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 <10.0.17763.9245
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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