Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-21234

Race Condition in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2 ≤ 10.0.19044.6937

Published
10 February 2026
Modified
11 February 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0026 18th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-21234 is a high-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 7.0 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 18th 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows Connected Devices Platform Service allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

Race condition in Windows service directly enables local privilege escalation via software exploitation (T1068).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-20866Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-20930Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-64658Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-33839Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-27918Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-32160Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-64661Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-20836Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-20826Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-20814Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.8389 · ≤ 10.0.17763.8389
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.6937 · ≤ 10.0.19044.6937 · ≤ 10.0.19044.6937
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.6937 · ≤ 10.0.19045.6937 · ≤ 10.0.19045.6937
microsoft
windows 11 23h2
≤ 10.0.22631.6649 · ≤ 10.0.22631.6649
microsoft
windows 11 24h2
≤ 10.0.26100.7781 · ≤ 10.0.26100.7781
microsoft
windows 11 25h2
≤ 10.0.26200.7781 · ≤ 10.0.26200.7781
microsoft
windows server 2019
≤ 10.0.17763.8389
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.4711
microsoft
windows server 2022 23h2
≤ 10.0.25398.2149
microsoft
windows server 2025
≤ 10.0.26100.32313

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • SC-39 Process Isolation
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V10.4.2
  • V10.4.5
  • V15.1.3
  • V15.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Enforces access control policies on shared resources in the Connected Devices Platform Service, blocking unauthorized privilege transitions even under concurrent execution.

prevent

Restricts privileges assigned to authorized users and service processes, limiting the impact of any successful race-condition escalation.

prevent

Isolates processes handling shared device-platform resources, reducing the attack surface for synchronization flaws that lead to local privilege escalation.

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 SDLC practices directly require proper synchronization primitives and concurrency testing that prevent race conditions.

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.

detects

Security testing can detect race conditions, but does not prevent them at design or coding time.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates concurrency controls and synchronization primitives that directly prevent race conditions.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify thread-safety and locking rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require proper synchronization and resource isolation, addressing the root cause of CWE-362.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe concurrent access patterns and mandate atomic operations or locks.

none

Change management reduces introduction of concurrency bugs during updates, yet does not address the weakness itself.

References