CVE-2026-81963

Exploitation

Exploited in the wild. Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-09-08. Federal remediation due 2026-09-22.

SSVC decision

• ExploitationactiveCISA reports credible evidence of active exploitation.
• AutomatablenoAt least one step from reconnaissance to exploitation cannot be reliably automated.
• Technical ImpacttotalSuccessful exploitation gives total control of the vulnerable component.

CISA publishes the decision points, not a final SSVC decision. The decision also depends on mission and well-being impact, which is a property of your deployment rather than of the vulnerability.

EPSS probability

Not scored by EPSS

EPSS percentile

Not scored by EPSS

NVD base score

7.8 (CVSS v3.x), scored by the NVD independently of the CNA.

NVD CVSS vector

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

NVD analysis status

Analyzed. NVD last modified this record on 2026-09-09.

Red Hat severity

No Red Hat rating. Red Hat rates the CVEs that affect its products.

Exploit-prediction scores from FIRST. Independent scoring and analysis status from the NVD. Vendor severity from Red Hat. Exploitation assessment and catalog membership from CISA.

Published

2026-09-08 17:19Z16 HR AGO

Last updated

2026-09-09 04:25Z4 HR AGO

Reserved

2026-08-27

Assigning CNA

microsoft

Record state

PUBLISHED

Severity

High (CVSS 7.8)

CNA CVSS vector

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

Weaknesses

• CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')Base
• CWE-284Improper Access ControlPillar

Data version

5.2

Document digest

9054969df68d977d6a83c07775be6a243e78f1e5b9a78137f47deb2ccf0e8e7c

• msrc.microsoft.comWindows Update Stack Elevation of Privilege Vulnerabilityhttps://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-81963vendor-advisorypatch
• www.cisa.govhttps://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-81963government-resource