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Windows 11 24h2Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2026-50396

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.26100.8875 / 10.0.26100.33158 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Use after free in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

In the news

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

A use-after-free vulnerability in Windows Kernel-Mode Drivers allows a local authorized attacker to exploit freed memory to elevate privileges to SYSTEM level. The flaw exists in how kernel-mode drivers handle memory allocation/deallocation sequences, enabling arbitrary code execution in kernel context.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates or vendor-specific driver patches addressing the UAF vulnerability; prioritize patching kernel-mode drivers running with elevated privileges.

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 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< 10.0.28000.2525
Windows Server 2025Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.26100.33158

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
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 checks

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

  1. Check Windows version and build number
    Open Command Prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to obtain the full version string including build number
    Affected if Version is below 10.0.26100.8875 (Win11 24h2), below 10.0.26200.8875 (Win11 25h2), below 10.0.28000.2269 or 10.0.28000.2525 (Win11 26h1), or below 10.0.26100.33158 (Windows Server 2025)
  2. List loaded kernel-mode drivers
    Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run 'driverquery /v' or use 'Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\*' | Select-Object Name, DisplayName, StartType, Status' in PowerShell to enumerate loaded drivers
    Affected if Any kernel-mode driver is loaded; the vulnerability exists in driver memory handling, not a specific configuration setting
  3. Identify potentially vulnerable third-party drivers
    Use 'fltmc' to list filter drivers, or check 'C:\Windows\System32\drivers' folder for driver files. Review driver dates and verify driver signatures using 'sigcheck -k <driver.sys>' from Sysinternals
    Affected if Third-party kernel-mode drivers are present, especially those with recent modification dates matching the vulnerability timeframe or lacking valid digital signatures

Your environment is affected if running an affected Windows version (11 24h2/25h2/26h1 or Server 2025) below the specified build numbers and any kernel-mode drivers are loaded on the system.

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 10.0.26100.8875 / 10.0.26100.33158 / 10.0.26200.8875 or later
Fixed in 10.0.26100.887510.0.26100.3315810.0.26200.8875
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates or vendor-specific driver patches addressing the UAF vulnerability; prioritize patching kernel-mode drivers running with elevated privileges.

Recommended fix High confidence

Windows 11 24h2: 10.0.26100.8875 or later | Windows 11 25h2: 10.0.26200.8875 or later | Windows 11 26h1: 10.0.28000.2269 or later / 10.0.28000.2525 or later | Windows Server 2025: 10.0.26100.33158 or later

  1. Identify the current Windows build version by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Version"'
  2. Determine which Windows 11 version (24h2, 25h2, or 26h1) or Windows Server 2025 is installed
  3. Apply the relevant Windows security update from Microsoft Update Catalog or WSUS that addresses this vulnerability (check Microsoft Security Response Center for the specific KB article)
  4. Restart the system to complete the installation of the kernel-mode driver update
  5. Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the installed updates or running 'winver' to confirm the build number matches or exceeds: 10.0.26100.8875 (24h2), 10.0.26200.8875 (25h2), 10.0.28000.2269 or 10.0.28000.2525 (26h1), 10.0.26100.33158 (Server 2025)
Caveat Standard Windows update risks apply - test updates in staging environment before production deployment; kernel-mode updates may require restart

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

Fix this in Windows 11 24h2 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,780
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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-2026-50396 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