{"id":"CVE-2026-96171","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-96171"],"related":[],"title":"Windows Graphics Kernel: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","description":"Use after free in Windows Graphics Kernel allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.","summary":"A use-after-free bug in the Windows Graphics Kernel lets an attacker who already has a local account elevate their privileges. The attacker gets the rights of a higher-privileged account on the same machine.","severity":"high","cvss":7.0,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[{"name":"Windows Graphics Kernel","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["infrastructure","windows","windows-graphics-kernel"],"not_affected_if":[],"how_to_check":"unknown: check Microsoft's Security Update Guide entry for CVE-2026-96171 for the affected Windows builds and KB, then compare with winver / Get-HotFix on each machine.","fix":null,"status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:16+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:32+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-10T19:48:04+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:20+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.3,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-10T19:48:04Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"unknown","reach":"local","title":"Windows Graphics Kernel: use-after-free lets a local user gain higher privileges","impact":"high","summary":"A use-after-free bug in the Windows Graphics Kernel lets an attacker who already has a local account elevate their privileges. The attacker gets the rights of a higher-privileged account on the same machine.","audience":"everyone","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows","windows-graphics-kernel"],"confidence":0.5,"fix_status":"unknown","needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user gains full system privileges on the machine","analyst_note":"Check Microsoft's CVE-2026-96171 advisory for affected Windows builds and the patch KB; the sources only give the NVD description.","how_to_check":"- unknown","plain_action":"","product_name":"Windows Graphics Kernel","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":[],"who_is_affected":"Windows machines where a person can already log in or run code locally; the sources do not list affected builds. Machines with no untrusted local users are at lower risk, but the sources do not say more.","user_interaction":"unknown","product_ecosystem":"vendor","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000672,"input_tokens":4484,"output_tokens":448,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":"done","analyst_note":"Check Microsoft's CVE-2026-96171 advisory for affected Windows builds and the patch KB; the sources only give the NVD description.","search":"'-2026':16A,19A '-96171':17A,20A 'account':49B,63B 'allow':75C 'alreadi':45B 'attack':43B,54B,78C 'author':77C 'bug':35B 'cve':15A,18A 'elev':50B,80C 'free':7A,34B,70C 'gain':12A 'get':55B 'graphic':2A,28B,39B,73C 'graphics':22A 'higher':13A,61B 'higher-privileg':60B 'infrastructur':24B 'kernel':3A,23A,29B,40B,74C 'let':8A,41B 'local':10A,48B,82C 'machin':67B 'privileg':14A,52B,62B,81C 'right':57B 'use':5A,32B,68C 'use-after-fre':4A,31B 'user':11A 'window':1A,25B,27B,38B,72C 'windows':21A 'windows-graphics-kernel':26B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Windows machines where a person can already log in or run code locally; the sources do not list affected builds. Machines with no untrusted local users are at lower risk, but the sources do not say more.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"unknown","audience":"everyone","plain_action":null,"pkeys":["graphicskernel","windowsgraphicskernel"],"ptokens":["graphics","kernel","windows"],"labels":["high","infrastructure","vendor","windows","windowsgraphicskernel"],"campaign_type":null,"search_a":"'-2026':16A,19A '-96171':17A,20A 'cve':15A,18A 'free':7A 'gain':12A 'graphic':2A 'graphics':22A 'higher':13A 'kernel':3A,23A 'let':8A 'local':10A 'privileg':14A 'use':5A 'use-after-fre':4A 'user':11A 'window':1A 'windows':21A","search_b":"'account':49B,63B 'alreadi':45B 'attack':43B,54B 'bug':35B 'elev':50B 'free':34B 'get':55B 'graphic':28B,39B 'higher':61B 'higher-privileg':60B 'infrastructur':24B 'kernel':29B,40B 'let':41B 'local':48B 'machin':67B 'privileg':52B,62B 'right':57B 'use':32B 'use-after-fre':31B 'window':25B,27B,38B 'windows-graphics-kernel':26B","search_c":"'allow':75C 'attack':78C 'author':77C 'elev':80C 'free':70C 'graphic':73C 'kernel':74C 'local':82C 'privileg':81C 'use':68C 'window':72C","cause_entry":null,"cause_path":null,"disclosures_checked_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:16+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-2026-96171","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-96171","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:16+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:22:17+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:32+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:25:32+00:00","note":null},{"source":"analyst","external_id":"CVE-2026-96171:2563","url":null,"severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:20+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:20+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:20+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-10T19:50:20+00:00","note":"Could not read Microsoft's advisory: MSRC page is JS-only (WebFetch empty), CVRF API too large, browser-cli 402, web-cli unavailable. NVD page also returned no content. No affected builds/KB found; nothing verified. Revisit when MSRC text is reachable."}],"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"}