dbcve.org
Windows 10 1607Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2026-50490

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.14393.9339 / 10.0.17763.9020 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 Installer 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

Use after free vulnerability in Windows Installer that allows a locally authorized attacker to execute code with elevated privileges. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management in the Windows Installer service.

MitigationApply Microsoft's security update for Windows Installer when released; prioritize patching workstations and servers with users who have elevated access 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 10 1607Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.14393.9339
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.9020
Windows 10 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19044.7548
Windows 10 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19045.7548
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 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2

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. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' from command prompt or execute 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to obtain the exact Windows version and build number
    Affected if The version and build number fall below any of the following thresholds: Windows 10 1607 < 10.0.14393.9339, Windows 10 1809 < 10.0.17763.9020, Windows 10 21h2 < 10.0.19044.7548, Windows 10 22h2 < 10.0.19045.7548, Windows 11 24h2 < 10.0.26100.8875, Windows 11 25h2 < 10.0.26200.8875, Windows 11 26h1 <
  2. Verify Windows Installer version
    Run 'msiexec /?' or check the file version of 'msi.dll' located in C:\Windows\System32\ using Properties > Details to confirm the installed Windows Installer version
    Affected if Unable to determine version or version is lower than the patched version corresponding to the OS release in step 1
  3. Confirm security update status
    Run 'Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.Description -like "Security Update"} | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 10' in PowerShell to list recent security updates, or check Windows Update history for Windows Installer-related security patches
    Affected if No recent security update for Windows Installer is installed, or the installed update KB does not correspond to the CVE-2026-50490 patch

A system is affected if it runs any Windows version listed in the affected products with a build number below the specified threshold AND lacks the corresponding security update for Windows Installer.

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 10.0.14393.9339 / 10.0.17763.9020 / 10.0.19044.7548 or later
Fixed in 10.0.14393.933910.0.17763.902010.0.19044.7548
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft's security update for Windows Installer when released; prioritize patching workstations and servers with users who have elevated access privileges.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the fixed build for your Windows version: 10.0.14393.9339 (Win10 1607), 10.0.17763.9020 (Win10 1809), 10.0.19044.7548 (Win10 21h2), 10.0.19045.7548 (Win10 22h2), 10.0.26100.8875 (Win11 24h2), 10.0.26200.8875 (Win11 25h2), or 10.0.28000.2525+ (Win11 26h1); migrate off Windows Server 2012/R

  1. 1. Identify the current Windows version and build number by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo' in Command Prompt
  2. 2. Determine which Windows product line applies to your system from the affected versions list
  3. 3. For Windows 10 systems: Apply Windows Updates to install the cumulative update containing the fix (KB5055523 or subsequent updates)
  4. 4. For Windows 11 24h2 systems: Apply Windows Updates to reach build 10.0.26100.8875 or higher
  5. 5. For Windows 11 25h2 systems: Apply Windows Updates to reach build 10.0.26200.8875 or higher
  6. 6. For Windows 11 26h1 systems: Apply Windows Updates to reach build 10.0.28000.2269 or 10.0.28000.2525 or higher
  7. 7. For Windows Server 2012/R2: The OS is end-of-life; migrate to a supported Windows Server version (2016 or later)
  8. 8. Verify the fix by checking the installed build matches or exceeds the fixed version for your product line
Caveat Windows Server 2012/R2 has no patch available and is end-of-life; must migrate to a supported server OS version

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1607 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-50490 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2026-50490 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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