Quick answers
- Is CVE-2026-96971 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-96971 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-2026-96971?
- High severity, with a CVSS score of 7, published 10 November 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- Microsoft Windows.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-96971?
- No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
- How is CVE-2026-96971 attacked?
- It is attacked with local access, in an operating system.
- Am I affected by CVE-2026-96971?
- Check whether you run Microsoft Windows. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
Technical details
A use-after-free vulnerability in the Windows NetBIOS component allows a local authenticated attacker to corrupt memory and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. The vulnerability requires local access and user authentication as a precondition, but once triggered, can lead to privilege escalation. This is a heap memory safety issue typical of the NetBIOS protocol implementation in Windows.
Affected products
- Microsoft Windows
Timeline
- 2026-11-10: disclosed