{"id":"CVE-2026-88237","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-88237"],"related":[],"title":"Windows Subsystem for Linux: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","description":"Use after free in Windows Subsystem for Linux allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.","summary":"A use-after-free bug in the Windows Subsystem for Linux lets an attacker who already has a local account elevate their privileges. The sources give a CVSS score of 7.0 and no public exploitation.","severity":"high","cvss":7.0,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["infrastructure","windows","wsl"],"not_affected_if":["wsl-not-installed"],"how_to_check":"- Run `wsl --version` in PowerShell to see whether WSL is installed and which version it reports\n- Compare the reported WSL version against the fixed build in Microsoft's advisory (unknown in the sources given)","fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-10T19:21:32+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:20+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:01+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:01+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-10T19:50:01Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Windows Subsystem for Linux: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","impact":"high","summary":"A use-after-free bug in the Windows Subsystem for Linux lets an attacker who already has a local account elevate their privileges. The sources give a CVSS score of 7.0 and no public exploitation.","audience":"businesses","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows","wsl"],"confidence":0.6,"fix_status":"unknown","needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user gains elevated system privileges on the machine","analyst_note":"Check Microsoft's CVE-2026-88237 security update guide for the fixed WSL version and affected Windows builds.","how_to_check":"- Run `wsl --version` in PowerShell to see whether WSL is installed and which version it reports\n- Compare the reported WSL version against the fixed build in Microsoft's advisory (unknown in the sources given)","plain_action":"","product_name":"","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["wsl-not-installed"],"who_is_affected":"Machines running Windows with the Windows Subsystem for Linux installed are the systems to look at, because the flaw is in its kernel-facing code. The attacker needs a local account on the machine, so machines with only trusted single users are lower risk. Systems without WSL can skip it.","user_interaction":"no","product_ecosystem":"","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000706,"input_tokens":4486,"output_tokens":515,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":"queued","analyst_note":"Check Microsoft's CVE-2026-88237 security update guide for the fixed WSL version and affected Windows builds.","search":"'-2026':17A,20A '-88237':18A,21A '7.0':56B 'account':45B 'allow':69C 'alreadi':41B 'attack':39B,72C 'author':71C 'bug':30B 'cve':16A,19A 'cvss':53B 'elev':46B,74C 'exploit':60B 'free':8A,29B,63C 'gain':13A 'give':51B 'higher':14A 'infrastructur':22B 'let':9A,37B 'linux':4A,36B,68C 'local':11A,44B,76C 'privileg':15A,48B,75C 'public':59B 'score':54B 'sourc':50B 'subsystem':2A,34B,66C 'use':6A,27B,61C 'use-after-fre':5A,26B 'user':12A 'window':1A,23B,33B,65C 'wsl':24B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Machines running Windows with the Windows Subsystem for Linux installed are the systems to look at, because the flaw is in its kernel-facing code. The attacker needs a local account on the machine, so machines with only trusted single users are lower risk. Systems without WSL can skip it.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"none","audience":"businesses","plain_action":null,"pkeys":[],"ptokens":[],"labels":["high","infrastructure","windows","wsl"],"campaign_type":null,"search_a":"'-2026':17A,20A '-88237':18A,21A 'cve':16A,19A 'free':8A 'gain':13A 'higher':14A 'let':9A 'linux':4A 'local':11A 'privileg':15A 'subsystem':2A 'use':6A 'use-after-fre':5A 'user':12A 'window':1A","search_b":"'7.0':56B 'account':45B 'alreadi':41B 'attack':39B 'bug':30B 'cvss':53B 'elev':46B 'exploit':60B 'free':29B 'give':51B 'infrastructur':22B 'let':37B 'linux':36B 'local':44B 'privileg':48B 'public':59B 'score':54B 'sourc':50B 'subsystem':34B 'use':27B 'use-after-fre':26B 'window':23B,33B 'wsl':24B","search_c":"'allow':69C 'attack':72C 'author':71C 'elev':74C 'free':63C 'linux':68C 'local':76C 'privileg':75C 'subsystem':66C 'use':61C 'window':65C","cause_entry":null,"cause_path":null,"disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-10T19:21:32+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-2026-88237","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88237","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:21:32+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:21:32+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:20+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:20+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"}