CVE-2026-50480
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 · uneditedHeap-based buffer overflow in Windows Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Protocol (WPAD) 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 confidenceHeap-based buffer overflow in Windows Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Protocol (WPAD) service allows a locally authorized attacker to overflow a heap buffer and achieve privilege escalation to higher system 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< 10.0.14393.9339all versions= r2< 10.0.14393.9339CVSS 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 version and build numberOpen Command Prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the exact Windows version and build numberAffected if Running Windows 10 1607 with build < 14393.9339, Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 any build, or Windows Server 2016 with build < 14393.9339
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Verify WPAD service statusOpen Services (services.msc) or run 'sc query WinHttpAutoProxySvc' to check if the Windows Proxy Auto-Discovery service is present and runningAffected if The WinHttpAutoProxySvc service is installed and enabled on the system
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Check WPAD registry configurationRun 'reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinHttpAutoProxySvc" /v Start' to query the service startup type; also check 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings' for WPAD-related registry keysAffected if WPAD is configured to start automatically (Start value = 2) or WPAD registry keys exist indicating the feature is active
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Confirm WPAD is reachable on the networkCheck if the system has network interfaces enabled that could process WPAD requests; run 'netsh winhttp show proxy' to see WinHTTP proxy settingsAffected if WinHTTP proxy is set to auto-detect or the system has WPAD enabled at the browser/proxy level (Internet Options > Connections > LAN settings > 'Automatically detect settings')
You are affected if your Windows version matches the affected builds AND the WinHttpAutoProxySvc (WPAD) service is enabled on your system.
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 data10.0.14393.9339
Apply the appropriate Microsoft security patch for this vulnerability when released. Until then, consider disabling WPAD via registry or group policy if not required in the environment.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-50480 — 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-2026-50480 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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