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CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Microsoft Windows Link Following Vulnerability is confirmed as actively exploited and is listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Added to KEV
2026-09-08
Remediation due
2026-09-22

Required action
Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.

CISA notes
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2026-81963 ; BOD 26-04: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; Forensics Triage Requirements: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-81963

Description

Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Update Stack allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Severity

CVSS 3.1 · CNA7.8 HIGH
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
SSVC · CISA-ADP
Exploitationactive
Automatableno
Technical impacttotal

Affected Products

VendorProductAffected versions
MicrosoftWindows 11 version 23H2
10.0.22631.0 to <10.0.22631.7582
MicrosoftWindows 11 Version 23H2
10.0.22631.0 to <10.0.22631.7582
MicrosoftWindows 11 Version 24H2
10.0.26100.0 to <10.0.26100.9445
MicrosoftWindows 11 Version 25H2
10.0.26200.0 to <10.0.26200.9445
MicrosoftWindows 11 version 26H1
10.0.28000.0 to <10.0.28000.2954
MicrosoftWindows Server 2025
10.0.26100.0 to <10.0.26100.33438
MicrosoftWindows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
10.0.26100.0 to <10.0.26100.33438

References

1 Links

Record Details

Published
2026-09-08
Last updated
2026-09-30
Assigner (CNA)
microsoft
Credited to
-

CVE record data © The MITRE Corporation, used under the CVE Terms of Use. Exploited-in-the-wild data from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (CC0). Exploit prediction scores by FIRST EPSS (first.org/epss). This site is not endorsed or certified by MITRE, NVD, CISA, or FIRST.