CVE-2026-32159
Published: 14 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-32159 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
Prevents unauthorized and unintended information transfer via shared system resources, directly addressing the race condition vulnerability in Windows Push Notifications.
Requires timely identification, reporting, and correction of the race condition flaw, preventing exploitation of CVE-2026-32159 through patching.
Enforces least privilege to limit the scope and impact of privilege escalation achievable via the race condition.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Local race condition (CWE-362/416) in Windows component directly enables privilege escalation from low-privileged user (AV:L/PR:L).
NVD Description
Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows Push Notifications allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-32159 is a race condition vulnerability (CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization) in the Windows Push Notifications component, also associated with CWE-416. Published on 2026-04-14, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). The flaw arises from improper synchronization during concurrent access to a shared resource, enabling an authorized local attacker to elevate privileges.
A low-privileged local user (PR:L) with access to the affected system (AV:L) can exploit this vulnerability. Exploitation demands high complexity (AC:H) but requires no user interaction (UI:N). Upon success, the attack changes scope (S:C), granting high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), ultimately allowing privilege escalation.
Microsoft's update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-32159 provides details on affected versions, patches, and mitigation recommendations.
Details
- CWE(s)