CVE-2023-21726
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedWindows Credential Manager User Interface Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · low confidenceThis is a local Elevation of Privilege vulnerability in the Windows Credential Manager User Interface component. The vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to execute code at a higher privilege level than initially granted, potentially achieving SYSTEM or administrator-level access on the affected Windows system.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Windows version is in the affected rangeOpen Command Prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"'. Check if the version matches Windows 10 1607, 1809, 20h2, 21h2, 22h2, Windows 11 21h2, 22h2, or Windows 7.Affected if The installed Windows version matches any of the listed affected versions.
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Check for CVE-2023-21726 security update installationOpen PowerShell and run 'Get-HotFix -Id KB5022730' (or the appropriate KB for this CVE). Alternatively, open Control Panel > Programs > View installed updates and search for the CVE-2023-21726 related update.Affected if The security update for CVE-2023-21726 is NOT installed.
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Verify Credential Manager UI component version via registryOpen Registry Editor and navigate to 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AuthHost'. Check the version values, or alternatively check 'C:\Windows\System32\CredentialUIBroker.dll' properties to see its file version.Affected if The Credential Manager UI component version is older than the patched version and the CVE-2023-21726 update has not been applied.
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Check for presence of the vulnerability trigger conditionReview Windows Event Logs under Security and Application logs for events related to 'credui.dll' or Credential Manager access anomalies. Use 'Get-WinEvent -LogName Security -MaxEvents 50 | Where-Object {$_.Message -like "*CredMan*"}' to filter.Affected if Unusual Credential Manager UI access events are present and the system remains unpatched.
The system is affected if it runs a listed Windows version AND the CVE-2023-21726 security update is NOT installed.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2023-21726 via Windows Update or Microsoft Update catalog. For systems where patching is delayed, restrict local user privileges and monitor for unusual credential manager access.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21726 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-21726 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data