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Windows 10 1809Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2025-26678

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.17763.7136 / 10.0.19044.5737 or later.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Improper access control in Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally.

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 · moderate confidence

Improper access control in Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) allows a local unauthorized attacker to bypass the security feature, potentially enabling execution of applications that should be blocked by WDAC policies.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates addressing this vulnerability and verify WDAC policies are properly enforced; review application allowlists to ensure the bypass vector cannot be exploited.

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 data
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.7136
Windows 10 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19044.5737
Windows 10 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19045.5737
Windows 11 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22621.5189
Windows 11 23h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22631.5189
Windows 11 24h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.26100.3775
Windows Server 2019Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.7136
Windows Server 2022Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.20348.3453

CVSS 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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version and build number
    Affected if The build number is lower than the affected version for your Windows release (17763.7136, 19044.5737, 19045.5737, 22621.5189, 22631.5189, 26100.3775, or 20348.3453)
  2. Confirm WDAC is active
    Run 'Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_DeviceGuard' or check Registry key 'HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard' to see if WDAC policies are deployed
    Affected if WDAC is enabled and enforcing policies (if WDAC is not used, the bypass has no effect)
  3. Verify WDAC policy configuration
    Run 'Get-CimInstance -Namespace root\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceGuard -ClassName Win32_DeviceGuard' to list active Code Integrity policies
    Affected if Any WDAC policy is present and the Windows version is below the patched build
  4. Check for recent Code Integrity events
    Open Event Viewer, navigate to Application and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > CodeIntegrity, and look for recent events indicating policy enforcement
    Affected if WDAC is logging events (confirming active enforcement) on a vulnerable Windows version

You are affected if your Windows version build is below the threshold for your release AND you have WDAC policies actively enforced, as the vulnerability allows bypassing those policies.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.0.17763.7136 / 10.0.19044.5737 / 10.0.19045.5737 or later
Fixed in 10.0.17763.713610.0.19044.573710.0.19045.5737
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates addressing this vulnerability and verify WDAC policies are properly enforced; review application allowlists to ensure the bypass vector cannot be exploited.

Recommended fix High confidence

Windows 10 1809: build 10.0.17763.7136 | Windows 10 21h2: build 10.0.19044.5737 | Windows 10 22h2: build 10.0.19045.5737 | Windows 11 22h2: build 10.0.22621.5189 | Windows 11 23h2: build 10.0.22631.5189 | Windows 11 24h2: build 10.0.26100.3775 | Windows Server 2019: build 10.0.17763.7136 | Windows S

  1. Open Windows Settings and navigate to Update & Security > Windows Update
  2. Click 'Check for updates' to download and install the latest security updates
  3. Alternatively, use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager to deploy the relevant KB patch
  4. Verify the installed build number matches or exceeds the fixed version for your Windows release (e.g., Windows 10 22h2 should be 10.0.19045.5737 or later)
  5. Restart the system if prompted to complete the installation
Caveat Standard Windows security update; follow organizational change management procedures before deployment in production environments

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Windows 10 1809 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-26678 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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