CVE-2026-23660
Published: 10 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-23660 is a high-severity Improper Access Control (CWE-284) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Admin Center. 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 19.2th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-2 (Account Management) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-23660 is an improper access control vulnerability affecting Azure Portal Windows Admin Center. Published on 2026-03-10, it 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) and maps to CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) with additional NVD-CWE-noinfo classification. The issue stems from flawed access controls that enable privilege escalation.
A local attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability with low complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation allows privilege elevation on the affected system, resulting in high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The Microsoft Security Response Center advisory provides further details on this vulnerability, including mitigation and patch guidance, at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23660.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-10581
Vulnerability details
Improper access control in Azure Portal Windows Admin Center allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct local privilege escalation via exploitation of improper access control flaw (CWE-284).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces approved authorizations for logical access, addressing the improper access control that enables local privilege escalation.
Employs least privilege to restrict low-privilege local attackers from elevating privileges beyond necessary access.
Manages accounts and associated privileges to prevent provisioning of exploitable low-privilege accounts in Windows Admin Center.