CVE-2026-20875
Published: 13 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-20875 is a high-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 23.4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Null pointer dereference in LSASS directly enables remote DoS via application exploitation (T1499.004).
NVD Description
Null pointer dereference in Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) allows an unauthorized attacker to deny service over a network.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-20875 is a null pointer dereference vulnerability (CWE-476) in the Windows Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS). Published on 2026-01-13, it affects Windows systems running LSASS, a critical component handling authentication and security policies.
The vulnerability enables an unauthorized attacker to exploit it over a network (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring no privileges (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and no change in scope (S:U). Successful exploitation results in high-impact denial of service (A:H) with no impact on confidentiality or integrity (C:N/I:N), as reflected in its CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5.
Microsoft's Security Response Center provides an update guide for CVE-2026-20875 at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-20875, detailing recommended mitigations and patches.
Details
- CWE(s)