Authenticated service interruption via DFS use-after-free
Published Sep 8, 2026 · Updated Sep 9, 2026
Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows Distributed File System allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service over a network. Microsoft identifies DFS as the affected component but has not disclosed the freed object, triggering request, or exact failure path. Exploitation requires low privileges and high-complexity conditions; successful exploitation affects availability only and does not disclose or modify data.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows Distributed File System allows remote authenticated users to interrupt service over a network. Microsoft identifies DFS as the affected component but has not disclosed the freed object, triggering request, or exact failure path. Exploitation requires low privileges and high-complexity conditions; successful exploitation affects availability only and does not disclose or modify data.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-78446
- Published
- Sep 8, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 9, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2019
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1499.004
- Attack vector
- network
- 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=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.9245
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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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