{"id":"CVE-2026-96097","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-96097"],"related":[],"title":"Windows Brokering File System: local privilege escalation via invalid pointer release","description":"Release of invalid pointer or reference in Windows Brokering File System allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.","summary":"A flaw in the Windows Brokering File System releases an invalid pointer or reference, so a logged-in user can gain higher privileges on the same machine. An attacker needs a valid local account first.","severity":"high","cvss":7.0,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["infrastructure","local-privilege-escalation","windows"],"not_affected_if":["no-local-untrusted-users","unknown"],"how_to_check":"Unknown until Microsoft's Security Update Guide lists affected builds. Check the installed Windows build (winver or Get-HotFix) against the KB listed for CVE-2026-96097 once it is published.","fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:08+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:30+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-10T19:48:11+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-10T19:52:46+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.4,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-10T19:48:11Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Windows Brokering File System: local privilege escalation via invalid pointer release","impact":"high","summary":"A flaw in the Windows Brokering File System releases an invalid pointer or reference, so a logged-in user can gain higher privileges on the same machine. An attacker needs a valid local account first.","audience":"businesses","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows"],"confidence":0.5,"fix_status":"unknown","needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user gains elevated system privileges on the machine","analyst_note":"Check the Microsoft Security Update Guide entry for CVE-2026-96097 for affected Windows builds and the patch KB.","how_to_check":"- unknown","plain_action":"","product_name":"","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["unknown"],"who_is_affected":"Affects Windows systems with the Brokering File System component; the sources do not list affected versions. Exposure requires an authorized local account, so shared or multi-user Windows hosts carry the most risk. unknown","user_interaction":"no","product_ecosystem":"","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000654,"input_tokens":4492,"output_tokens":410,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":"done","analyst_note":"Check the Microsoft Security Update Guide entry for CVE-2026-96097 for affected Windows builds and the patch KB.","search":"'-2026':13A,16A '-96097':14A,17A 'account':58B 'allow':71C 'attack':53B,74C 'author':73C 'broker':2A,29B,68C 'cve':12A,15A 'elev':76C 'escal':7A,22B 'file':3A,30B,69C 'first':59B 'flaw':25B 'gain':45B 'higher':46B 'infrastructur':18B 'invalid':9A,34B,62C 'local':5A,20B,57B,78C 'local-privilege-escal':19B 'log':41B 'logged-in':40B 'machin':51B 'need':54B 'pointer':10A,35B,63C 'privileg':6A,21B,47B,77C 'refer':37B,65C 'releas':11A,32B,60C 'system':4A,31B,70C 'user':43B 'valid':56B 'via':8A 'window':1A,23B,28B,67C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Windows systems with the Brokering File System component; NVD does not list affected versions or builds. Exploitation needs a valid local account and high attack complexity (CVSS 7.0, AV:L/AC:H/PR:L), so shared or multi-user Windows hosts such as terminal servers and VDI carry the most risk. Single-user machines with no untrusted local users are lower priority.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"none","audience":"businesses","plain_action":null,"pkeys":[],"ptokens":[],"labels":["high","infrastructure","localprivilegeescalation","windows"],"campaign_type":null,"search_a":"'-2026':13A,16A '-96097':14A,17A 'broker':2A 'cve':12A,15A 'escal':7A 'file':3A 'invalid':9A 'local':5A 'pointer':10A 'privileg':6A 'releas':11A 'system':4A 'via':8A 'window':1A","search_b":"'account':58B 'attack':53B 'broker':29B 'escal':22B 'file':30B 'first':59B 'flaw':25B 'gain':45B 'higher':46B 'infrastructur':18B 'invalid':34B 'local':20B,57B 'local-privilege-escal':19B 'log':41B 'logged-in':40B 'machin':51B 'need':54B 'pointer':35B 'privileg':21B,47B 'refer':37B 'releas':32B 'system':31B 'user':43B 'valid':56B 'window':23B,28B","search_c":"'allow':71C 'attack':74C 'author':73C 'broker':68C 'elev':76C 'file':69C 'invalid':62C 'local':78C 'pointer':63C 'privileg':77C 'refer':65C 'releas':60C 'system':70C 'window':67C","cause_entry":null,"cause_path":null,"disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:08+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-2026-96097","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96097","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:08+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:08+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:30+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:30+00:00","note":null},{"source":"analyst","external_id":"CVE-2026-96097:2571","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96097","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:52:46+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:52:46+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:52:46+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:52:46+00:00","note":"Could not read the MSRC Update Guide entry (JS-only; the API returned nothing or was too large). Only NVD text is available, so there are no builds, KB or fix versions. Nothing verified. Revisit when MSRC or a Patch Tuesday summary lists the KBs. Search and X not used.","cites":["https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96097"]}],"documents":[{"id":117708,"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96097","title":"NVD CVE-2026-96097","kind":"other","source":"analyst","publisher":null,"text":"Release of invalid pointer or reference in Windows Brokering File System allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally. CVSS 7.0 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L (assigned by secure@microsoft.com).","published_at":null,"relation":"describes","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"}