{"id":"CVE-2026-96073","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-96073"],"related":[],"title":"Windows Installer: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","description":"Use after free in Windows Installer allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.","summary":"A memory-handling bug in Windows Installer lets an attacker who already has a local account raise their privileges. The sources do not describe the trigger in detail.","severity":"high","cvss":7.0,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["infrastructure","windows","windows-installer"],"not_affected_if":["no-untrusted-local-users","single-user-machine"],"how_to_check":"- Open the MSRC entry for CVE-2026-96073 (https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96073), find your Windows version in its Security Updates table and note the KB number. Run winver (or Get-HotFix -Id KB<number>) to see whether that update or a later cumulative update is installed.","fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:05+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:29+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-10T19:49:23+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-10T19:54:47+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.4,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-10T19:49:23Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Windows Installer: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","impact":"high","summary":"A memory-handling bug in Windows Installer lets an attacker who already has a local account raise their privileges. The sources do not describe the trigger in detail.","audience":"businesses","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows","windows-installer"],"confidence":0.5,"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-2026-96073 to confirm affected Windows builds and the patch.","how_to_check":"- Check the Windows build with `winver` and compare it against Microsoft's security update guide entry for CVE-2026-96073\n- unknown","plain_action":"","product_name":"","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["single-user-machine","no-untrusted-local-users"],"who_is_affected":"Windows machines where a local user with an existing account could run Windows Installer. Shared workstations, terminal servers and multi-user hosts are the most exposed. The sources do not say which Windows builds are affected.","user_interaction":"unknown","product_ecosystem":"","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000678,"input_tokens":4474,"output_tokens":462,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":"done","analyst_note":"Find Microsoft's security update guide entry for CVE-2026-96073 to confirm affected Windows builds and the patch.","search":"'-2026':15A,18A '-96073':16A,19A 'account':41B 'allow':60C 'alreadi':37B 'attack':35B,63C 'author':62C 'bug':29B 'cve':14A,17A 'describ':49B 'detail':53B 'elev':65C 'free':6A,56C 'gain':11A 'handl':28B 'higher':12A 'infrastructur':20B 'instal':2A,24B,32B,59C 'let':7A,33B 'local':9A,40B,67C 'memori':27B 'memory-handl':26B 'privileg':13A,44B,66C 'rais':42B 'sourc':46B 'trigger':51B 'use':4A,54C 'use-after-fre':3A 'user':10A 'window':1A,21B,23B,31B,58C 'windows-instal':22B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Windows machines where a local user with an existing account could run Windows Installer. Shared workstations, terminal servers and multi-user hosts are the most exposed. The 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","windows","windowsinstaller"],"campaign_type":null,"search_a":"'-2026':15A,18A '-96073':16A,19A 'cve':14A,17A 'free':6A 'gain':11A 'higher':12A 'instal':2A 'let':7A 'local':9A 'privileg':13A 'use':4A 'use-after-fre':3A 'user':10A 'window':1A","search_b":"'account':41B 'alreadi':37B 'attack':35B 'bug':29B 'describ':49B 'detail':53B 'handl':28B 'infrastructur':20B 'instal':24B,32B 'let':33B 'local':40B 'memori':27B 'memory-handl':26B 'privileg':44B 'rais':42B 'sourc':46B 'trigger':51B 'window':21B,23B,31B 'windows-instal':22B","search_c":"'allow':60C 'attack':63C 'author':62C 'elev':65C 'free':56C 'instal':59C 'local':67C 'privileg':66C 'use':54C 'window':58C","cause_entry":null,"cause_path":null,"disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:05+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-2026-96073","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96073","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:05+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:05+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:29+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:29+00:00","note":null},{"source":"analyst","external_id":"CVE-2026-96073:2579","url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96073","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:54:47+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:54:47+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:54:47+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:54:47+00:00","note":"MSRC entry is JavaScript-only; web-cli returned no content, so builds, KB numbers and fix are unread. No exploitation or PoC found in search. Nothing verified. Revisit with browser-cli or Microsoft's CVRF feed.","cites":["https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96073"]}],"documents":[{"id":117710,"url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96073","title":"MSRC Security Update Guide: CVE-2026-96073 (JS-only, content not readable)","kind":"advisory","source":"analyst","publisher":null,"text":null,"published_at":null,"relation":"advisory","confidence":null,"note":null}],"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"}