CVE-2026-26165: CWE-416: Use After Free in Microsoft Windows 11 version 22H3
Use after free in Windows Shell allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-26165) involves a use-after-free condition in the Windows Shell on Windows 11 version 22H3 (build 10.0.22631.0). Exploitation requires local access with limited privileges and does not require user interaction. Successful exploitation could lead to elevation of privileges, impacting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system. Microsoft has released an official patch to remediate this vulnerability.
Potential Impact
An authorized local attacker could exploit this use-after-free vulnerability to elevate their privileges on the affected Windows 11 system. This could allow the attacker to gain higher-level access rights, potentially leading to full system compromise. The CVSS score of 7 indicates a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Mitigation Recommendations
Microsoft has released an official fix for this vulnerability. It is recommended to apply the security update provided by Microsoft as soon as possible to remediate this issue. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor advisory.
CVE-2026-26165: CWE-416: Use After Free in Microsoft Windows 11 version 22H3
Description
Use after free in Windows Shell allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-26165) involves a use-after-free condition in the Windows Shell on Windows 11 version 22H3 (build 10.0.22631.0). Exploitation requires local access with limited privileges and does not require user interaction. Successful exploitation could lead to elevation of privileges, impacting confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system. Microsoft has released an official patch to remediate this vulnerability.
Potential Impact
An authorized local attacker could exploit this use-after-free vulnerability to elevate their privileges on the affected Windows 11 system. This could allow the attacker to gain higher-level access rights, potentially leading to full system compromise. The CVSS score of 7 indicates a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Mitigation Recommendations
Microsoft has released an official fix for this vulnerability. It is recommended to apply the security update provided by Microsoft as soon as possible to remediate this issue. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor advisory.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- microsoft
- Date Reserved
- 2026-02-11T18:33:57.776Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- official-fix
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-26165","vendor":"Microsoft"}]
Threat ID: 69de7a1882d89c981fd6a67d
Added to database: 4/14/2026, 5:32:08 PM
Last enriched: 4/14/2026, 7:17:12 PM
Last updated: 4/15/2026, 6:03:52 AM
Views: 4
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