CVE-2026-32090
Published: 14 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-32090 is a high-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) 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 12.4th 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 SC-4 (Information in Shared System Resources) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly remediates the race condition and use-after-free vulnerability in Windows Speech Brokered API through timely patching as recommended by Microsoft.
Prevents unauthorized and unintended information transfer via shared system resources, directly mitigating the improper synchronization race condition.
Provides memory protections that mitigate exploitation of the race condition and use-after-free issues during privilege escalation attempts.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Race condition (UAF) in Windows Speech Brokered API directly enables local privilege escalation from low-privileged context (AV:L/PR:L), matching T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation.
NVD Description
Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows Speech Brokered Api allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-32090 is a race condition vulnerability (CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization (Race Condition); CWE-416: Use After Free) in the Windows Speech Brokered API. This flaw arises from improper synchronization of concurrent access to a shared resource, enabling local privilege escalation. Published on 2026-04-14, 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 affects Windows systems that utilize the Speech Brokered API component.
A local attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this vulnerability due to its low attack complexity (AC:L) and lack of required user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation allows the attacker to elevate privileges, resulting in high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) within the local scope (S:U/AV:L).
Microsoft's Security Response Center provides an update guide for mitigation at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-32090, detailing recommended patches and remediation steps.
Details
- CWE(s)