CVE-2026-21242 — Windows Subsystem for Linux Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Executive Summary

Use after free in Windows Subsystem for Linux allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Overview

7

CVSS HIGH

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Elevation of Privilege

Weakness CWE-416: Use After Free

Released Feb 10 2026

Last Updated Feb 10 2026

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.0034 — 0.26562 percentile

NVD CVSS 7 HIGH — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

High

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

Low

USER INTERACTION

None

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

High

AVAILABILITY

High

EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY

Unproven

REMEDIATION LEVEL

Official Fix

REPORT CONFIDENCE

Confirmed

Temporal Score: 6.1

EPSS Score

0.0034

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.26562 percentile - updated 2026-07-25

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

9 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5075912 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems	`5075912 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5075912 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems	`5075912 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5075941 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems	`5075941 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems 5077181 (Security Update) 5077212 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5073379 Base: 7.0 Temporal: 6.1 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 10.0.26100.7840 10.0.26100.7781 Yes None Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems 5077212 (Security Hotpatch Update) 5077181 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5074109 Base: 7.0 Temporal: 6.1 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 10.0.26100.7781 10.0.26100.7840 Yes None Windows 11 Version 25H2 for ARM64-based Systems 5077181 (Security Update) 5077212 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5074109 Base: 7.0 Temporal: 6.1 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 10.0.26200.7840 10.0.26200.7781 Yes None Windows 11 Version 25H2 for x64-based Systems 5077181 (Security Update) 5077212 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5074109 Base: 7.0 Temporal: 6.1 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 10.0.26200.7840 10.0.26200.7781 Yes None Windows 11 Version 26H1 for ARM64-based Systems	`5077179 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 version 26H1 for x64-based Systems	`5077179 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2022 5075906 (Security Update) 5075943 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5073457 Base: 7.0 Temporal: 6.1 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 10.0.20348.4773 10.0.20348.4711 Yes None Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation) 5075906 (Security Update) 5075943 (Security Hotpatch Update) Important Elevation of Privilege 5073457 Base: 7.0 Temporal: 6.1 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 10.0.20348.4773 10.0.20348.4711 Yes None Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation)	`5075897 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes

Patches

4 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`5075912`	Security Update	Yes
`5075941`	Security Update	Yes
`5077179`	Security Update	Yes
`5075897`	Security Update	Yes

Known Exploits

No known exploits have been linked for this CVE yet. When available, exploit references will be sourced from public repositories and may be unverified, incomplete, or non-functional. Always review code carefully before use in any environment.

Acknowledgments

ChenJian with Sea Security Orca Team

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD