CVE-2026-32163
Published: 14 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-32163 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-16 (Memory Protection).
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 by requiring timely application of vendor patches for the Windows User Interface Core component.
Prevents unauthorized and unintended information transfer via shared system resources, directly addressing the race condition from improper synchronization.
Implements memory protections that safeguard against use-after-free exploits by preventing unauthorized memory access during concurrent execution.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The CVE describes a local privilege escalation vulnerability (race condition + use-after-free in Windows UI Core) that is directly exploitable by a low-privileged local attacker to obtain high-integrity/full system access; this maps exactly to T1068 (Exploitation for Privilege Escalation).
NVD Description
Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows User Interface Core allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-32163 is a race condition vulnerability stemming from concurrent execution using a shared resource with improper synchronization (CWE-362), along with a use-after-free issue (CWE-416), in the Windows User Interface Core component. Published on 2026-04-14, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High), reflecting local attack vector (AV:L), high attack complexity (AC:H), low privileges required (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), changed scope (S:C), and high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H).
A local attacker with low-level privileges can exploit this vulnerability to elevate privileges on affected Windows systems. Exploitation requires physical or network-based local access and sophisticated timing to trigger the race condition, but proceeds without user interaction. Success grants the attacker high-integrity access, enabling full control over the system, including unauthorized data access, modification, and disruption.
Microsoft's update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-32163 details available patches and recommended mitigations for addressing this privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows User Interface Core.
Details
- CWE(s)