CVE-2026-21232
Microsoft Windows 11 23H2 ≤ 10.0.22631.6649
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-21232 is a high-severity Untrusted Pointer Dereference (CWE-822) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 23H2. 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 35th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-21232 is an untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability, classified under CWE-822, affecting the Windows HTTP.sys kernel-mode driver. This component handles HTTP requests in Windows operating systems. Published on 2026-02-10, the vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impact.
A local attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability through low-complexity actions requiring no user interaction. Exploitation enables privilege escalation, granting the attacker high-level impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, potentially allowing full system compromise from an initial low-privilege position.
Microsoft's advisory provides mitigation guidance, available at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21232. Security practitioners should consult this update guide for patching instructions and recommended actions.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-7315
Vulnerability Data
Untrusted pointer dereference in Windows HTTP.sys allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation can discover instances where untrusted data is turned into a pointer and dereferenced.
Validating all information inputs stops untrusted values from being accepted and converted into dereferenceable pointers.
Memory-protection mechanisms limit the damage from an invalid pointer dereference without stopping the root coding flaw.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of untrusted pointer handling during development.
Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect adverse events resulting from exploitation of the weakness.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover instances of this weakness via code review or scanning.
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.
Security testing can detect pointer-dereference flaws before release.
Secure development lifecycle includes pointer-safety practices that reduce untrusted pointer dereference risk.
Application security requirements can mandate validation of pointers obtained from untrusted sources.
Secure architecture principles discourage direct use of untrusted values as pointers.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid dereferencing pointers derived from untrusted input.