Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-57976

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 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0076 51th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-57976 is a medium-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked in the top 49% 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-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A10:2025 Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Null pointer dereference in Active Directory Domain Services allows an authorized attacker to deny service over a network.

CWE(s)
CWE-476

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Null pointer dereference in AD DS directly enables application/system exploitation to cause network DoS (T1499.004).

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-50366Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-42903Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-25168Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-40401Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-40413Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-40414Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-32071Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-34339Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-21525Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-20875Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1607
≤ 10.0.14393.9339 · ≤ 10.0.14393.9339
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
≤ 10.0.28000.2525 · ≤ 10.0.28000.2525
microsoft
windows server 2012
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2016
≤ 10.0.14393.9339
microsoft
windows server 2019
≤ 10.0.17763.9020
+2 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-4 System Monitoring
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly requires timely remediation of the null-pointer flaw in Active Directory Domain Services before it can be triggered.

AC-6 Least Privilege good match
prevent

Enforces least privilege so that even authenticated users have minimal rights to reach the vulnerable AD DS code path.

SI-4 System Monitoring partial match
detect

Enables monitoring and anomaly detection that can identify the resulting denial-of-service condition or unusual AD DS crashes.

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 (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.

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 can detect NULL dereference defects before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.

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

Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.

References