Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-34340

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2 ≤ 10.0.19044.7291

Published
12 May 2026
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0021 11th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-34340 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 7.0 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 11th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-6 (Least Privilege) and SI-16 (Memory Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Use after free in Windows Projected File System allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
Why these techniques?

Local use-after-free vulnerability enabling privilege escalation via direct exploitation of OS component.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-32078Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-33835Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-24292Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-45637Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-20865Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-56173Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-42984Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-60707Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-42983Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2025-60716Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.8755 · ≤ 10.0.17763.8755
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.7291 · ≤ 10.0.19044.7291 · ≤ 10.0.19044.7291
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.7291 · ≤ 10.0.19045.7291 · ≤ 10.0.19045.7291
microsoft
windows 11 23h2
≤ 10.0.22631.7079 · ≤ 10.0.22631.7079
microsoft
windows 11 24h2
≤ 10.0.26100.8390 · ≤ 10.0.26100.8390
microsoft
windows 11 25h2
≤ 10.0.26200.8390 · ≤ 10.0.26200.8390
microsoft
windows 11 26h1
≤ 10.0.28000.2113 · ≤ 10.0.28000.2113
microsoft
windows server 2019
≤ 10.0.17763.8755
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.5074
microsoft
windows server 2022 23h2
≤ 10.0.25398.2330
+1 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly counters use-after-free (CWE-416) via hardware-enforced memory protections such as tagging or non-executable regions in the Projected File System driver.

prevent

Limits the ability of an authorized local attacker to reach or exploit the vulnerable code paths by restricting unnecessary privileges on Windows Projected File System operations.

prevent

Process isolation confines the effects of a use-after-free in the file-system component, reducing the chance of successful kernel-level privilege escalation.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References