{"id":"CVE-2026-119388","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-119388"],"related":[],"title":"Windows QWAVE service use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","description":"Use after free in Quality Windows Audio/Video Experience (QWAVE) service allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.","summary":"Windows Quality Windows Audio/Video Experience (QWAVE) service has a use-after-free memory flaw. A logged-in attacker with local access can use it to elevate their privileges on the machine.","severity":"high","cvss":7.0,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["endpoints","infrastructure","windows"],"not_affected_if":["non-windows-systems"],"how_to_check":"- Check the installed Windows build with `winver` and compare it to the fixed build in Microsoft's advisory for CVE-2026-119388.\n- Confirm whether the QWAVE service is running with `sc query QWAVE` (unknown whether this is conclusive).","fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-10T19:19:52+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:24:56+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-10T19:52:01+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-10T19:52:01+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-10T19:52:01Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Windows QWAVE service use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","impact":"high","summary":"Windows Quality Windows Audio/Video Experience (QWAVE) service has a use-after-free memory flaw. A logged-in attacker with local access can use it to elevate their privileges on the machine.","audience":"businesses","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows","endpoints"],"confidence":0.6,"fix_status":"unknown","needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user gains system-level privileges on the machine","analyst_note":"Find Microsoft's security update guide entry for CVE-2026-119388 to get affected builds, fixed KB or build numbers, and whether QWAVE is enabled by default.","how_to_check":"- Check the installed Windows build with `winver` and compare it to the fixed build in Microsoft's advisory for CVE-2026-119388.\n- Confirm whether the QWAVE service is running with `sc query QWAVE` (unknown whether this is conclusive).","plain_action":"","product_name":"","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["non-windows-systems"],"who_is_affected":"Windows machines with the QWAVE service present; the attacker needs an authorized local account first. The sources do not list affected Windows builds or whether QWAVE runs by default, so the exposure scope is unknown.","user_interaction":"no","product_ecosystem":"","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000712,"input_tokens":4504,"output_tokens":523,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":"queued","analyst_note":"Find Microsoft's security update guide entry for CVE-2026-119388 to get affected builds, fixed KB or build numbers, and whether QWAVE is enabled by default.","search":"'-119388':17A,20A '-2026':16A,19A 'access':46B 'allow':67C 'attack':43B,70C 'audio/video':27B,63C 'author':69C 'cve':15A,18A 'elev':51B,72C 'endpoint':21B 'experi':28B,64C 'flaw':38B 'free':7A,36B,59C 'gain':12A 'higher':13A 'infrastructur':22B 'let':8A 'local':10A,45B,74C 'log':41B 'logged-in':40B 'machin':56B 'memori':37B 'privileg':14A,53B,73C 'qualiti':25B,61C 'qwave':2A,29B,65C 'servic':3A,30B,66C 'use':5A,34B,48B,57C 'use-after-fre':4A,33B 'user':11A 'window':1A,23B,24B,26B,62C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Windows machines with the QWAVE service present; the attacker needs an authorized local account first. The sources do not list affected Windows builds or whether QWAVE runs by default, so the exposure scope is unknown.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"none","audience":"businesses","plain_action":null,"pkeys":[],"ptokens":[],"labels":["endpoints","high","infrastructure","windows"],"campaign_type":null,"search_a":"'-119388':17A,20A '-2026':16A,19A 'cve':15A,18A 'free':7A 'gain':12A 'higher':13A 'let':8A 'local':10A 'privileg':14A 'qwave':2A 'servic':3A 'use':5A 'use-after-fre':4A 'user':11A 'window':1A","search_b":"'access':46B 'attack':43B 'audio/video':27B 'elev':51B 'endpoint':21B 'experi':28B 'flaw':38B 'free':36B 'infrastructur':22B 'local':45B 'log':41B 'logged-in':40B 'machin':56B 'memori':37B 'privileg':53B 'qualiti':25B 'qwave':29B 'servic':30B 'use':34B,48B 'use-after-fre':33B 'window':23B,24B,26B","search_c":"'allow':67C 'attack':70C 'audio/video':63C 'author':69C 'elev':72C 'experi':64C 'free':59C 'local':74C 'privileg':73C 'qualiti':61C 'qwave':65C 'servic':66C 'use':57C 'window':62C","cause_entry":null,"cause_path":null,"disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-10T19:19:52+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"secure@microsoft.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-119388","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-119388","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:19:52+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:19:53+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:24:56+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:24:56+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"disclosures":[],"exploit_sources":[],"notice":"Free to read, with fair use of about 60 pages a minute. For higher limits or API access: sales@infrastack.ai"}