Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-26675

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2 ≤ 10.0.19044.5737

Published
08 April 2025
Modified
09 July 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0056 44th percentile
Risk Priority 59 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-26675 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 44th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Out-of-bounds read in Windows Subsystem for Linux allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-53805Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 22H2
CVE-2025-27490Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2025-33063Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-49098Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-49083Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2026-27931Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-49101Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-49110Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-49099Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2
CVE-2024-49109Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 21H2

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.5737
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.5737
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22621.5189
microsoft
windows 11 23h2
≤ 10.0.22631.5189
microsoft
windows 11 24h2
≤ 10.0.26100.3775
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.3453
microsoft
windows server 2022 23h2
≤ 10.0.25398.1551
microsoft
windows server 2025
≤ 10.0.26100.3775

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation directly finds out-of-bounds read flaws through static analysis, fuzzing, and dynamic bounds checks.

Secure engineering principles require bounds checking and memory-safe constructs that stop out-of-bounds reads from being introduced.

Process isolation confines the effects of an out-of-bounds read to the compromised process.

Input validation rejects malformed indices or lengths that would otherwise cause reads outside buffer bounds.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References