CVE-2026-44814
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 · uneditedOut-of-bounds read in Windows DWM Core Library allows an authorized attacker to disclose information 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 · high confidenceThis is an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in the Windows Desktop Window Manager (DWM) Core Library, a core Windows system component responsible for compositing the desktop visual display. The vulnerability allows a locally authenticated, authorized attacker to read memory contents beyond intended boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive information from kernel memory.
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< 10.0.28000.2269CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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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Verify Windows 11 26h1 edition is runningRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo' and confirm the OS is listed as Microsoft Windows 11 with feature update 26h1Affected if The system is NOT running Windows 11 26h1 (if running Windows 10, Windows 11 other editions, or Server variants, this CVE does not apply)
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Check the Windows build numberRun 'winver' and note the full build number displayed (for example: 10.0.22621.1), or run 'systeminfo | findstr /C:"Build Number"'Affected if The build number is 10.0.28000.2269 or higher - those versions are patched. The system is affected if the build is below 10.0.28000.2269
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Verify DWM Core Library is present and runningOpen Task Manager, go to the Details tab, and confirm dwm.exe is running, or run 'Get-Process -Name Dwm*' in PowerShellAffected if DWM is not running - exploitation requires the DWM process to be active (default state on Windows 11)
A system is affected if it is running Windows 11 26h1 with a build number below 10.0.28000.2269 and has DWM active, which is the default state on Windows 11.
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 data10.0.28000.2269
Apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2026-44814 through Windows Update or enterprise patch management systems. Verify the patch deployment across affected Windows endpoints and confirm the DWM Core Library version has been updated.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-44814 — 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-2026-44814 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