Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-50677

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 11 24H2 ≤ 10.0.26100.8875

Published
14 July 2026
Modified
22 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0024 15th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-50677 is a high-severity Race Condition (CWE-362) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 24H2. 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 15th 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.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Use after free in Windows Media 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 directly enables exploitation for privilege escalation on Windows.

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-50404Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50440Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50676Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50379Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50458Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-49806Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50385Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50414Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50345Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2
CVE-2026-50322Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 24H2

Affected Assets

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
≤ 10.0.28000.2525 · ≤ 10.0.28000.2525

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)
  • V10.4.2
  • V10.4.5
  • V15.1.3
  • V15.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly counters use-after-free (CWE-416) by employing memory protection techniques that prevent exploitation of freed objects in Windows Media.

prevent

Limits the privileges of the authorized local attacker, reducing the impact of successful UAF-based escalation to system-level access.

prevent

Requires timely application of vendor patches that remediate the specific race-condition and use-after-free flaws in the Windows Media component.

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 require proper synchronization primitives and concurrency testing that prevent race conditions.

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 can detect race conditions, but does not prevent them at design or coding time.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates concurrency controls and synchronization primitives that directly prevent race conditions.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify thread-safety and locking rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require proper synchronization and resource isolation, addressing the root cause of CWE-362.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe concurrent access patterns and mandate atomic operations or locks.

prevents

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

References