CVE-2026-55014
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 · uneditedImproper access control in Windows Remote Help Defense 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 confidenceImproper access control in Windows Remote Help Defense enables a locally authenticated attacker with baseline system access to elevate privileges to higher permission levels. The vulnerability stems from missing or insufficient authorization checks within the Remote Help Defense component, allowing privilege escalation beyond the attacker's current assigned permissions.
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< 5.2.1037.0CVSS 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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Verify Microsoft Remote Help installationCheck if Microsoft Remote Help is installed on the system by looking in Add/Remove Programs, Program Files, or using PowerShell Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ProductAffected if Microsoft Remote Help is not installed on the system
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Identify installed version of Microsoft Remote HelpRetrieve the version information of Microsoft Remote Help typically found in the application executable, file properties, or via PowerShell Get-ItemProperty on the installation directoryAffected if Unable to determine the installed version of Microsoft Remote Help
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Compare version against affected rangeCompare the identified version number to the affected range: any version lower than 5.2.1037.0 is vulnerableAffected if Installed version is lower than 5.2.1037.0 (for example: 5.2.1036.0, 5.2.0, 5.0.0, etc.)
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Confirm Remote Help Defense component accessibilityVerify that the Remote Help Defense component is present and accessible on the system - this component handles authorization for remote assistance sessionsAffected if Remote Help Defense component exists on the system and the installed version is below 5.2.1037.0
If Microsoft Remote Help version 5.2.1037.0 or higher is NOT installed, a locally authenticated attacker with baseline system access can exploit the missing authorization checks in Remote Help Defense to elevate privileges beyond their assigned permissions.
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 data5.2.1037.0
Apply Microsoft security updates for Windows Remote Help Defense once available. Until patches are released, limit local administrator access to essential personnel only and monitor for suspicious process execution patterns.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-55014 — 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-2026-55014 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data