Windows 10 1607Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2026-42990

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.14393.9339 / 10.0.17763.9020 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click 5 weeks old

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
Heap-based buffer overflow in SQL Server ODBC driver allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.

In the news

Third-party coverage
Trending covered by 1 outlet this week · latest 1w ago

Surfaced from public web coverage — external links open in a new tab.

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

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Microsoft SQL Server ODBC driver allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by sending specially crafted network packets to affected systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches for the SQL Server ODBC driver as soon as they become available; restrict network access to SQL Server instances as an interim measure until patching is feasible.

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 1607Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.14393.9339
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.9020
Windows 10 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19044.7548
Windows 10 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19045.7548
Windows 11 24h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.26100.8875
Windows 11 25h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.26200.8875
Windows 11 26h1Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.28000.2269
Windows Server 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 build version
    Open Command Prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Version"' to obtain the full build number
    Affected if The build number falls below the safe thresholds: 14393.9339 (1607), 17763.9020 (1809), 19044.7548 (21h2), 19045.7548 (22h2), 26100.8875 (24h2), 26200.8875 (25h2), or 28000.2269 (26h1)
  2. Confirm Windows Server 2012/R2 usage
    Run 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the Windows edition
    Affected if The system runs Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2 (all versions are affected)
  3. Verify SQL Server ODBC driver presence
    Open ODBC Data Sources (32-bit or 64-bit) from Administrative Tools, or run 'odbcad32.exe', and check the Drivers tab for Microsoft ODBC Driver entries for SQL Server
    Affected if Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server is installed on the system
  4. Identify ODBC driver file version
    Locate the ODBC driver DLL (typically in C:\Windows\System32\sqlsrv32.dll or similar) and right-click to view Properties > Details for the FileVersion field
    Affected if The driver file version is older than the patched builds corresponding to the Windows version

A system is affected if it runs any of the listed Windows versions below the safe build thresholds OR runs Windows Server 2012/R2 AND has the SQL Server ODBC driver installed, as the vulnerability can be triggered via specially crafted network packets to the ODBC driver.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.0.14393.9339 / 10.0.17763.9020 / 10.0.19044.7548 or later
Fixed in 10.0.14393.933910.0.17763.902010.0.19044.7548
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security patches for the SQL Server ODBC driver as soon as they become available; restrict network access to SQL Server instances as an interim measure until patching is feasible.

Fix this in Windows 10 1607 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-42990 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-42990 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