Windows Kernel privilege escalation affects broadly deployed OS (Windows); impactful to enterprises and would be widely reported.
CVE-2026-50687
Local Windows Kernel use-after-free enabling privilege escalation to SYSTEM.
Is CVE-2026-50687 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-50687 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.33% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-50687?
CVE-2026-50687 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-50687?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-50687. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-50687 affect?
CVE-2026-50687 affects Microsoft Windows Kernel, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server (various builds). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-50687?
Apply vendor patch when available; restrict local privileges and enable exploit mitigations.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Local authenticated attacker can exploit a kernel use-after-free to escalate privileges to SYSTEM or execute code at kernel level.
Patch when possible
- affected>= 10.0.26100.0 and < 10.0.26100.8875
- affected>= 10.0.26200.0 and < 10.0.26200.8875
- affected>= 10.0.28000.0 and < 10.0.28000.2525
- affected>= 10.0.26100.0 and < 10.0.26100.33158
- affected>= 10.0.26100.0 and < 10.0.26100.33158
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.