Local privilege escalation via improper link resolution
Published Sep 8, 2026 · Updated Sep 9, 2026
Improper link resolution in Windows NTFS allows local users on affected Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 builds to elevate privileges. NTFS follows a filesystem link before privileged file access, allowing attacker-controlled link resolution to redirect that access; Microsoft has not published the affected code path or final privileged operation. Exploitation requires authorized local access and is limited to privilege elevation; no remote path or separate data-access impact is reported.
Summary
What happened
Improper link resolution in Windows NTFS allows local users on affected Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 builds to elevate privileges. NTFS follows a filesystem link before privileged file access, allowing attacker-controlled link resolution to redirect that access; Microsoft has not published the affected code path or final privileged operation. Exploitation requires authorized local access and is limited to privilege elevation; no remote path or separate data-access impact is reported.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-69379
- Published
- Sep 8, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
- Classifications
- CWE-59, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 9, 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 <10.0.26100.33438
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
No CVSS assessment is available in this record.
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.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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