Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-68896 is a high-severity Absolute Path Traversal (CWE-36) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 29th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-73680
Vulnerability Data
Absolute path traversal in Microsoft Windows Search Component allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Input validation directly stops construction of absolute paths from untrusted data before they reach file operations.
Enforced access authorizations can limit which resources are reachable even if a traversal succeeds.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent absolute path traversal.
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.
Security testing in development can detect absolute path traversal via static analysis and fuzzing.
Secure development lifecycle includes input validation and path-handling requirements that reduce absolute path traversal risk.
Application security requirements typically mandate controls against path traversal in file-access functions.
Secure architecture principles call for canonicalization and sandboxing that limit absolute path traversal.
Secure coding standards directly require neutralization of absolute path sequences in pathname construction.
Information access restriction limits which files can be reached but does not address the path-construction flaw itself.