CVE-2026-25167
Published: 10 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-25167 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 24H2. Its CVSS base score is 7.4 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 14.8th 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 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-25167 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the Microsoft Brokering File System, published on 2026-03-10. It affects Windows systems utilizing this component for file system brokering operations. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.4 (AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high impact potential despite requiring local access and high attack complexity.
A local unauthorized attacker (PR:N) can exploit this flaw without user interaction (UI:N) by triggering the use-after-free condition in the Brokering File System. Successful exploitation enables privilege escalation, granting high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts (C:H/I:H/A:H) within the local scope (S:U), potentially allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
Microsoft's Security Response Center provides guidance on mitigation via its update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-25167, where security practitioners can find details on available patches and remediation steps.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-10630
Vulnerability details
Use after free in Microsoft Brokering File System allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Use-after-free in local Windows system component directly enables local exploitation for privilege escalation to arbitrary code execution with elevated rights (matches T1068 description and prerequisites: AV:L, PR:N, UI:N).
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires timely installation of the vendor patch referenced in the MSRC update guide, eliminating the use-after-free flaw before exploitation.
Mandates memory-protection techniques (DEP, ASLR, etc.) that block or complicate exploitation of use-after-free conditions in the Brokering File System.
Enforces least-privilege execution for file-system components, reducing the impact of any successful local privilege-escalation attempt.