Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-21527

Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 … 2019

Published
10 February 2026
Modified
15 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.077 94th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-21527 is a medium-severity Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity (CWE-345) vulnerability in Microsoft Exchange Server. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-23 (Session Authenticity) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

User interface (ui) misrepresentation of critical information in Microsoft Exchange Server allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

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.
T1566 Phishing Initial Access
Adversaries may send phishing messages to gain access to victim systems.
T1598 Phishing for Information Reconnaissance
Adversaries may send phishing messages to elicit sensitive information that can be used during targeting.
Why these techniques?

UI spoofing vuln in public-facing Exchange directly enables network-based spoofing for phishing/info gathering.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-25007Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45500Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-55005Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45502Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45503Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45583Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2025-64667Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-45501Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-42897Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server
CVE-2026-55008Same product: Microsoft Exchange Server

Affected Assets

microsoft
exchange server
2016, 2019
microsoft
exchange server subscription edition
≤ 15.02.2562.037

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SC-23 Session Authenticity
  • SC-8 Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 8 hardening rules · 5 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.1
  • V1.4.2
  • V2.1.1
  • V2.2.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly enforces validation of syntactic and authenticity properties of inputs, addressing CWE-345/1286 root cause of spoofed UI data in Exchange.

prevent

Protects against spoofing by guaranteeing session authenticity and binding, directly countering network-based UI misrepresentation attacks.

prevent

Requires cryptographic integrity protection on transmissions, mitigating the network spoofing vector that enables CWE-451 UI misrepresentation.

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 address design and implementation of accurate, non-spoofable UI elements.

RC.RP-05 mostly match
is degraded by

CWE-345 directly impairs RC.RP-05's verification of restored-asset integrity/authenticity, largely defeating the outcome while still leaving other restoration-confirmation steps partially viable.

PR.AT-01 partial match
prevents

User awareness training helps people recognize and avoid harm from UI misrepresentation such as phishing, but does not prevent the flaw itself.

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 missing or weak data authenticity verification.

prevents

Security awareness training can teach users to recognize UI misrepresentation and phishing attempts.

mitigates

Network controls can enforce authenticated channels, reducing risk of accepting unauthentic data.

mitigates

Secure network services often include authenticity checks for data exchanged over those services.

mitigates

Web filtering can block known phishing sites that exploit UI misrepresentation.

prevents

Cryptographic mechanisms directly verify data origin and integrity, preventing acceptance of unauthentic data.

References