Executive brief
A security vulnerability exists in the Windows NTFS file system, which is the primary system used by Windows to store and retrieve files on hard drives. An attacker who already has basic access to a computer could exploit this flaw to gain full control over the system. This could lead to the theft of sensitive data, the installation of malicious software, or a complete disruption of business operations on the affected machine.
Technical details
A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability (CWE-122) exists in the Windows NTFS kernel driver. The flaw is triggered when the system improperly handles memory allocation during file system operations. An attacker with low-privileged local access can exploit this vulnerability without any user interaction to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. This could lead to a full local privilege escalation (LPE) to SYSTEM. Microsoft has released security updates to address this issue across various versions of Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server.
Affected products
- Microsoft Windows 10 1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2
- Microsoft Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H1
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 All editions
Timeline
- 2026-07-14: disclosed
- 2026-07-14: advisory: Microsoft released security update guide.