Windows Management Instrumentation: Race condition allows local privilege escalation
Summary
A race condition (CWE-362) and use-after-free (CWE-416) in Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) allow an authorized local user to gain higher privileges. The attacker needs an existing low-privileged account on the system and must win a timing-dependent condition (high attack complexity). The flaw is not remotely exploitable; the risk is highest on multi-user systems such as terminal servers.
Affected
- Windows 10 Version 1607 (builds before 10.0.14393.9688)
- Windows 10 Version 1809 (builds before 10.0.17763.9487)
- Windows 10 Version 21H2 (builds before 10.0.19044.7846)
- Windows 10 Version 22H2 (builds before 10.0.19045.7846)
- Windows 11 Version 23H2 (builds before 10.0.22631.7711)
- Windows 11 Version 24H2 (builds before 10.0.26100.9974)
- Windows 11 Version 25H2 (builds before 10.0.26200.9974)
- Windows 11 Version 26H1 (builds before 10.0.28000.3501)
- Windows 11 Version 26H2 (builds before 10.0.26300.9974)
- Windows Server 2016 incl. Server Core (builds before 10.0.14393.9688)
- Windows Server 2019 incl. Server Core (builds before 10.0.17763.9487)
- Windows Server 2022 (builds before 10.0.20348.5870)
- Windows Server 2025: not listed in the CNA record; verify on MSRC
Fixed in
- November 2026 cumulative updates for the affected Windows versions (fixed builds as listed above)
- Verify the KB-to-CVE mapping in the MSRC Security Updates section before deployment
Workaround
Unknown.
- No vendor workaround is known; patching is the only confirmed remedy.
Exploitation
- No public exploitation known at the time of writing.
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, not automatable, total technical impact.
- NVD status: Awaiting Analysis.
- Not verified as listed in the CISA KEV catalogue.
Our recommendation
- Inventory all Windows 10 and Windows Server systems and identify builds still in use, especially 1607, 1809 and 21H2.
- Install the November 2026 cumulative updates on affected systems, prioritising terminal servers, RDS hosts and shared workstations.
- Restrict local logon and limit standard user accounts on multi-user systems.
- Monitor for unusual WMI activity and privilege changes until patching is complete.
- Keep WMI-related updates in regular patch cycles, as several WMI elevation-of-privilege CVEs were published in 2026.
Information from Microsoft (Patch Tuesday November 2026)
- Severity (Microsoft)
- Important
- Impact
- Elevation of privilege – Windows Management Instrumentation
- Status on Patch Tuesday
- Neither exploited nor publicly disclosed
- Exploitability assessment
- Exploitation less likely
- Product family
- Windows, Windows ESU (Extended Security Updates)
- Updates (KB)
- KB5131291, KB5131085, KB5131096, KB5131090, KB5131087, KB5132061
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- MSRC Security Update Guide: CVE-2026-105546 msrc.microsoft.com
- CVE.org record CVE-2026-105546 www.cve.org
- Strix summary (third-party, unverified details) www.strix.ai
- Senserva KB 5131090 (update batch context) senserva.com
- Senserva KB 5132059 (update batch context) senserva.com
- Vulners MS:CVE-2026-88091 (related WMI CVE) vulners.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 11 Nov 2026, 09:38.
Original description (NVD)
Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows Management Instrumentation allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
NVD references (1)
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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