CVE-2026-50315
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 · uneditedNull pointer dereference in Windows Image Acquisition allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
In the news
Third-party coverage- Microsoft July 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes massive 570 flaws, 3 zero-days
- Microsoft CVE Summary - Bleeping Computer
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 confidenceA null pointer dereference vulnerability in Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) allows a locally authenticated attacker with authorized access to elevate privileges to SYSTEM level. The flaw occurs when the WIA service handles certain image acquisition operations and improperly dereferences a NULL pointer, leading to arbitrary code execution in an elevated context.
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< 10.0.26100.8875< 10.0.26200.8875< 10.0.28000.2269< 10.0.28000.2525< 10.0.26100.33158CVSS 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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Check Windows build versionOpen Command Prompt or PowerShell and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Version"' to display the full Windows version and build numberAffected if The build number falls below the thresholds: 10.0.26100.8875 for 24h2, 10.0.26200.8875 for 25h2, 10.0.28000.2269 or 10.0.28000.2525 for 26h1, or 10.0.26100.33158 for Server 2025
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Verify WIA service presenceOpen Services console (services.msc) or run 'Get-Service WIA' in PowerShell to check if the Windows Image Acquisition service exists on the systemAffected if The WIA service is installed and available on the system (most Windows desktop editions include it by default)
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Confirm WIA service statusRun 'sc query WIA' or check via PowerShell 'Get-Service WIA | Select-Object Status' to see if the service is currently runningAffected if The WIA service is in a running state, making the vulnerable code path potentially accessible
A system is affected if it runs a Windows 11 version (24h2, 25h2, or 26h1) or Windows Server 2025 with a build number below the specified thresholds AND has the WIA service present and potentially running.
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 · scoped10.0.26100.887510.0.26100.3315810.0.26200.8875
Apply the Microsoft security update addressing CVE-2026-50315 for Windows Image Acquisition. Until the patch is available, limit local administrative access and monitor for suspicious processes leveraging the WIA service.
Windows 11 24h2: build 10.0.26100.8875 or later | Windows 11 25h2: build 10.0.26200.8875 or later | Windows 11 26h1: build 10.0.28000.2525 or later | Windows Server 2025: build 10.0.26100.33158 or later
- Open Windows Settings and navigate to Windows Update
- Click 'Check for updates' to install the latest security updates
- Alternatively, manually install the relevant security update from Microsoft Update Catalog corresponding to your Windows version (KB5055523 or later for Windows 11 24h2/25h2/26h1, and KB5055524 or later for Windows Server 2025)
- Restart the system after installing the update
- Verify the installed build version matches or exceeds the minimum fixed version for your Windows edition using 'winver' command
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-50315 — 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-2026-50315 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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