CVE-2026-50486
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 · uneditedUse after free in Windows Runtime 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 confidenceThis is a Use After Free (UAF) vulnerability in the Windows Runtime component that enables a locally authenticated attacker to elevate privileges to higher integrity levels. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management in Windows Runtime, where a pointer to freed memory is still referenced after deallocation.
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< 10.0.19044.7548< 10.0.19045.7548< 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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Determine Windows version and build numberRun 'winver' from command prompt or check System Properties, or run 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"'Affected if The build number displayed is lower than the threshold for your Windows version
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Identify exact Windows 10 buildRun 'ver' at command prompt and note the full build number (e.g., 10.0.19045.xxxx)Affected if Running Windows 10 21h2 with build < 10.0.19044.7548, or Windows 10 22h2 with build < 10.0.19045.7548
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Identify exact Windows 11 buildRun 'winver' or check Settings > System > About to find the OS Build (e.g., 26100.xxxx)Affected if Running Windows 11 24h2 with build < 10.0.26100.8875, Windows 11 25h2 with build < 10.0.26200.8875, or Windows 11 26h1 with build < 10.0.28000.2269 or < 10.0.28000.2525
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Identify Windows Server 2025 buildRun 'systeminfo' or 'winver' and note the OS build numberAffected if Running Windows Server 2025 with build < 10.0.26100.33158
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Confirm Windows Runtime component presenceVerify the system is running a supported Windows version with Windows Runtime (this is default on all affected versions)Affected if The system runs any affected Windows version without the corresponding security patch
If the installed Windows build number is below the threshold for your specific Windows version (as listed in the affected products), the system is vulnerable to this Use After Free privilege escalation in Windows Runtime.
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 data10.0.19044.754810.0.19045.754810.0.26100.8875
Apply Microsoft security patches promptly when available. In the interim, restrict local user permissions and monitor for suspicious process activity that could indicate exploitation attempts.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 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 $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-50486 — 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-2026-50486 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