CVE-2026-32202
Published: 14 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-32202 is a medium-severity Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 4.3 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Masquerading (T1036); ranked in the top 0.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-32202 is a protection mechanism failure in the Windows Shell that allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network. This vulnerability, associated with CWE-693, affects the Windows Shell component and was published on 2026-04-14 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N), indicating medium severity primarily due to low confidentiality impact.
The vulnerability can be exploited by an unauthorized attacker with network access and no required privileges, but it requires user interaction, such as clicking on a malicious link or resource. Successful exploitation enables spoofing attacks, allowing the attacker to impersonate legitimate entities or content viewed by the user, resulting in limited disclosure of sensitive information without impacting integrity or availability.
Microsoft's update guide provides details on mitigation for CVE-2026-32202 at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-32202. Security practitioners should consult this advisory for patch availability and recommended remediation steps.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-22589
Vulnerability details
Protection mechanism failure in Windows Shell allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 28 April 2026
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The vulnerability enables spoofing attacks to impersonate legitimate entities or content in the Windows Shell, directly mapping to Masquerading (T1036).
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly remediates the protection mechanism failure in Windows Shell by applying Microsoft patches as referenced in the MSRC update guide.
Ensures receipt and implementation of security alerts and advisories from Microsoft for timely mitigation of the Windows Shell spoofing vulnerability.
Detects unpatched systems vulnerable to CVE-2026-32202 via automated vulnerability scanning of the Windows Shell component.