CVE-2026-32225
Published: 14 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-32225 is a high-severity Protection Mechanism Failure (CWE-693) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Mark-of-the-Web Bypass (T1553.005); ranked in the top 44.7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and SC-7 (Boundary Protection).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-32225 is a protection mechanism failure vulnerability in the Windows Shell, published on 2026-04-14. It enables an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network and is associated with CWE-693. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impacts.
The attack requires no privileges from the attacker (PR:N) and can be conducted over the network (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L), though it necessitates user interaction (UI:R). Successful exploitation allows the attacker to bypass the protection mechanism, resulting in high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts on the affected system.
Mitigation details are available in the Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-32225.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-22613
Vulnerability details
Protection mechanism failure in Windows Shell allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Protection mechanism failure in Windows Shell directly enables Mark-of-the-Web bypass (sub-technique of Subvert Trust Controls) via network vector with user interaction, matching CWE-693 and described security feature bypass.
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Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly requires identification, reporting, and correction of flaws such as the Windows Shell protection mechanism failure via timely patching as advised in the MSRC guidance.
Ensures organizations receive and act on security advisories like the MSRC update for CVE-2026-32225 to enable rapid flaw remediation and mitigation deployment.
Monitors and controls communications at system boundaries to block unauthorized network access required for exploiting the Windows Shell vulnerability.