Affects Microsoft Exchange Server — widely used enterprise email infrastructure; privilege escalation can enable admin takeover and broad impact.
CVE-2026-96940
Authenticated privilege escalation in Microsoft Exchange Server via weak authorization.
Is CVE-2026-96940 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-96940 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.
How severe is CVE-2026-96940?
CVE-2026-96940 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-2026-96940?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-96940. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-96940 affect?
CVE-2026-96940 affects Microsoft Exchange Server (on-premises). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-96940?
Apply Microsoft update immediately; restrict Exchange access and monitor logs.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Authenticated remote privilege escalation: attacker can gain elevated Exchange privileges enabling mailbox access, admin takeover and lateral movement.
Immediate action required
- affected>= 15.01.0.0 and < 15.01.2507.075
- affected>= 15.02.0.0 and < 15.02.1544.048
- affected>= 15.02.0.0 and < 15.02.1748.053
- affected>= 15.02.0.0 and < 15.02.2562.053
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.