{"id":"CVE-2026-123389","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-123389"],"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":"A use-after-free flaw in the Windows Quality Windows Audio/Video Experience (QWAVE) service lets an authorized local user elevate privileges. An attacker who already has a low-privilege account on the machine can gain higher rights.","severity":"high","cvss":7.0,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["infrastructure","self-hosted","windows"],"not_affected_if":["no-local-users","service-disabled"],"how_to_check":"- Check the Windows build with `winver` and compare it against Microsoft's security update guide for CVE-2026-123389\n- Check whether the QWAVE service is present and running with `sc query QWAVE`","fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-10T19:20:42+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:12+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:13+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:13+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-10T19:50:13Z","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":"A use-after-free flaw in the Windows Quality Windows Audio/Video Experience (QWAVE) service lets an authorized local user elevate privileges. An attacker who already has a low-privilege account on the machine can gain higher rights.","audience":"businesses","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows","self-hosted"],"confidence":0.6,"fix_status":"unknown","needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user gains SYSTEM-level privileges on the machine","analyst_note":"Fixed Windows builds and the vendor advisory page are not in the sources; check the Microsoft security update guide for CVE-2026-123389.","how_to_check":"- Check the Windows build with `winver` and compare it against Microsoft's security update guide for CVE-2026-123389\n- Check whether the QWAVE service is present and running with `sc query QWAVE`","plain_action":"","product_name":"","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-local-users","service-disabled"],"who_is_affected":"Windows machines with the QWAVE service present are the systems to look at. An attacker needs a local account on the machine first, so the risk is mainly on shared or multi-user hosts. Sources do not say which Windows builds are affected.","user_interaction":"no","product_ecosystem":"","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.00071,"input_tokens":4504,"output_tokens":520,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":"queued","analyst_note":"Fixed Windows builds and the vendor advisory page are not in the sources; check the Microsoft security update guide for CVE-2026-123389.","search":"'-123389':17A,20A '-2026':16A,19A 'account':57B 'allow':75C 'alreadi':51B 'attack':49B,78C 'audio/video':37B,71C 'author':43B,77C 'cve':15A,18A 'elev':46B,80C 'experi':38B,72C 'flaw':31B 'free':7A,30B,67C 'gain':12A,62B 'higher':13A,63B 'host':24B 'infrastructur':21B 'let':8A,41B 'local':10A,44B,82C 'low':55B 'low-privileg':54B 'machin':60B 'privileg':14A,47B,56B,81C 'qualiti':35B,69C 'qwave':2A,39B,73C 'right':64B 'self':23B 'self-host':22B 'servic':3A,40B,74C 'use':5A,28B,65C 'use-after-fre':4A,27B 'user':11A,45B 'window':1A,25B,34B,36B,70C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Windows machines with the QWAVE service present are the systems to look at. An attacker needs a local account on the machine first, so the risk is mainly on shared or multi-user hosts. Sources do not say which Windows builds are affected.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"none","audience":"businesses","plain_action":null,"pkeys":[],"ptokens":[],"labels":["high","infrastructure","selfhosted","windows"],"campaign_type":null,"search_a":"'-123389':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":"'account':57B 'alreadi':51B 'attack':49B 'audio/video':37B 'author':43B 'elev':46B 'experi':38B 'flaw':31B 'free':30B 'gain':62B 'higher':63B 'host':24B 'infrastructur':21B 'let':41B 'local':44B 'low':55B 'low-privileg':54B 'machin':60B 'privileg':47B,56B 'qualiti':35B 'qwave':39B 'right':64B 'self':23B 'self-host':22B 'servic':40B 'use':28B 'use-after-fre':27B 'user':45B 'window':25B,34B,36B","search_c":"'allow':75C 'attack':78C 'audio/video':71C 'author':77C 'elev':80C 'experi':72C 'free':67C 'local':82C 'privileg':81C 'qualiti':69C 'qwave':73C 'servic':74C 'use':65C 'window':70C","cause_entry":null,"cause_path":null,"disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-10T19:20:42+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-2026-123389","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-123389","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:20:42+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:20:42+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:12+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:12+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"}