CVE-2026-27924
Published: 14 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-27924 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 15.2th 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 SI-16 (Memory Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Flaw remediation requires timely patching of the specific use-after-free vulnerability in Desktop Window Manager as detailed in the Microsoft advisory.
Memory protection mechanisms like ASLR, DEP, and control-flow guard directly and comprehensively mitigate use-after-free exploitation in core components such as Desktop Window Manager.
Least privilege limits the initial access and potential damage from low-privileged local attackers attempting privilege escalation via the UAF vulnerability.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Use-after-free in Desktop Window Manager directly enables local privilege escalation via software vulnerability exploitation (T1068).
NVD Description
Use after free in Desktop Window Manager allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-27924 is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) in the Desktop Window Manager, a core component of Microsoft Windows. Published on 2026-04-14, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High), with vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating high impacts across confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
A local attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability with low attack complexity and no user interaction. Exploitation enables local privilege escalation, allowing the attacker to achieve high-level impacts on system confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Mitigation details are available in the Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-27924.
Details
- CWE(s)