Windows 11 26h1Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2026-58634

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.28000.2525 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 Desktop Window Manager 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 Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe) allows a locally authenticated attacker to corrupt memory and elevate privileges to SYSTEM level. The vulnerability involves the attacker causing the application to free memory and then accessing that freed memory region before the system reallocates it.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2026-58634 when released. Prioritize deployment to systems with direct user access where untrusted local users could exploit this flaw.

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 26h1Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.28000.2525

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 11 build version
    Run 'winver' from command prompt or check System Properties, or run 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"'
    Affected if The version shown is Windows 11 and the build number is below 10.0.28000.2525
  2. Confirm Windows 11 26h1 edition
    Run 'winver' - the "Version" field should show 26h1 or check Windows Settings > System > About
    Affected if The system shows Windows 11 version 26h1 with build lower than 2525
  3. Check dwm.exe is running
    Open Task Manager, go to Details tab, look for 'dwm.exe' in the list, or run 'tasklist | findstr dwm'
    Affected if dwm.exe is running (this is default on Windows 11) and the OS version matches affected builds

A system is affected if it runs Windows 11 version 26h1 with a build number lower than 10.0.28000.2525, as this is where the vulnerable dwm.exe version exists.

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 10.0.28000.2525 or later
Fixed in 10.0.28000.2525
Interim mitigation

Apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2026-58634 when released. Prioritize deployment to systems with direct user access where untrusted local users could exploit this flaw.

Recommended fix High confidence

Windows 11 26H1 build 28000.2525 or later

  1. Open Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and check for updates.
  2. Install the latest cumulative update that includes the fix for CVE-2026-58634 (build 28000.2525 or later).
  3. Restart the computer to apply the update.
  4. Verify the OS build number is 10.0.28000.2525 or higher (run 'winver' or 'systeminfo').

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

Fix this in Windows 11 26h1 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-58634 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-58634 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