Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-49795

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2 ≤ 10.0.19044.7548

Memory Safety
Published
14 July 2026
Modified
22 July 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.019 78th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-49795 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 22% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; 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 Kernel allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

CWE(s)
CWE-416

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.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Use-after-free in Windows Kernel directly enables local privilege escalation via exploitation of OS weakness.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-58536Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-50374Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-58613Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-50307Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-54114Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-50478Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-50493Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-49167Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-50449Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2026-54129Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.9020 · ≤ 10.0.17763.9020
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.7548 · ≤ 10.0.19044.7548 · ≤ 10.0.19044.7548
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.7548 · ≤ 10.0.19045.7548 · ≤ 10.0.19045.7548
microsoft
windows 11 24h2
≤ 10.0.26100.8875 · ≤ 10.0.26100.8875
microsoft
windows 11 25h2
≤ 10.0.26200.8875 · ≤ 10.0.26200.8875
microsoft
windows 11 26h1
≤ 10.0.28000.2269 · ≤ 10.0.28000.2525
microsoft
windows server 2019
≤ 10.0.17763.9020
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.5386
microsoft
windows server 2025
≤ 10.0.26100.33158

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
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

SI-16 Memory Protection good match
prevent

Directly enforces memory protection mechanisms that mitigate use-after-free conditions (CWE-416) in kernel memory management.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match
prevent

Limits privileges of authorized local users so that successful kernel UAF exploitation cannot achieve full elevation to SYSTEM.

AC-3 Access Enforcement partial match
prevent

Enforces kernel-level access checks that can block or contain the unauthorized operations attempted after the UAF is triggered.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

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

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

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

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

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

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

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

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

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

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

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

References