CVE-2026-45655
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 · uneditedProtection mechanism failure in Windows BitLocker allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature with a physical attack.
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 confidenceBitLocker protection mechanism failure allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature through a physical attack, potentially exposing encrypted data.
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< 10.0.14393.9234< 10.0.17763.8880< 10.0.19044.7417< 10.0.19045.7417< 10.0.22631.7219< 10.0.26100.8655< 10.0.26200.8655< 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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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Check Windows versionOpen Command Prompt or PowerShell and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version and build numberAffected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: Windows 10 1607 (< 10.0.14393.9234), 1809 (< 10.0.17763.8880), 21h2 (< 10.0.19044.7417), 22h2 (< 10.0.19045.7417); Windows 11 23h2 (< 10.0.22631.7219), 24h2 (< 10.0.26100.8655), 25h2 (< 10.0.26200.8655), 26h1 (< 10.0.28000.2269)
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Verify BitLocker encryption statusOpen an elevated Command Prompt and run 'manage-bde -status' or use PowerShell with 'Get-BitLockerVolume' to see if BitLocker is enabled on any volumesAffected if BitLocker is enabled on any system or data volumes, as the vulnerability allows bypassing BitLocker's protection on affected Windows versions
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Inspect BitLocker authentication methodIn PowerShell, run 'Get-BitLockerVolume | Select-Object VolumeType,ProtectionStatus,KeyProtectorType' to see the authentication mechanism in useAffected if The KeyProtectorType shows TPM-only (TPM) without an additional PIN or password, as the vulnerability specifically relates to bypassing the TPM-based protection mechanism
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Check for suspended BitLocker protectionRun 'manage-bde -status' or check the Protection Status in 'Get-BitLockerVolume' to see if any volumes have protection currently suspendedAffected if BitLocker protection is in a 'Suspended' state on system volumes, which would leave encrypted data vulnerable to the physical attack vector described
A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable Windows version listed in the affected ranges AND has BitLocker enabled with TPM-only authentication (no PIN or additional factor), making it susceptible to the physical attack bypass.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.0.14393.923410.0.17763.888010.0.19044.7417
Apply Microsoft security updates for Windows when available, and review BitLocker configuration settings to ensure additional authentication factors (such as TPM+PIN or USB-based key) are properly enabled to mitigate physical attack vectors.
Windows 10 1607: build 10.0.14393.9234 | Windows 10 1809: build 10.0.17763.8880 | Windows 10 21h2: build 10.0.19044.7417 | Windows 10 22h2: build 10.0.19045.7417 | Windows 11 23h2: build 10.0.22631.7219 | Windows 11 24h2: build 10.0.26100.8655 | Windows 11 25h2: build 10.0.26200.8655 | Windows 11 26
- Identify the current Windows version and build by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo'
- Determine which version range your system falls into from the affected versions list
- Apply the appropriate Windows security update for your version to reach the fixed build number
- For Windows 10 1607: upgrade to build 10.0.14393.9234 or later
- For Windows 10 1809: upgrade to build 10.0.17763.8880 or later
- For Windows 10 21h2: upgrade to build 10.0.19044.7417 or later
- For Windows 10 22h2: upgrade to build 10.0.19045.7417 or later
- For Windows 11 23h2: upgrade to build 10.0.22631.7219 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-45655 — 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-2026-45655 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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- 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
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