CVE-2026-26132
Published: 10 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-26132 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. 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 9.0th 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).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly mandates timely patching of the use-after-free vulnerability in the Windows Kernel as detailed in Microsoft's update guide.
Implements memory protection mechanisms like ASLR and DEP to prevent exploitation of the kernel use-after-free condition.
Enforces least privilege to minimize the attack surface for low-privileged local attackers attempting kernel privilege escalation.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Use-after-free in Windows Kernel directly enables local privilege escalation from low-privileged user to SYSTEM (T1068).
NVD Description
Use after free in Windows Kernel allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-26132 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the Windows Kernel that allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally. Published on 2026-03-10, it has 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 impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability with low attack complexity and no user interaction required.
A local attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability by triggering the use-after-free condition in the Windows Kernel. Successful exploitation enables privilege escalation, potentially granting the attacker higher-level access such as SYSTEM privileges on the affected system.
Microsoft's update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-26132 provides details on patches and mitigations for this vulnerability.
Details
- CWE(s)