Description

Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows Remote Desktop Services allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-11T17:18:18.680Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-11T17:18:18.680Z",
  "executiveSummary": "This vulnerability is classified as a heap-based buffer overflow affecting Windows Remote Desktop Services. The security flaw allows an authorized threat actor to execute arbitrary code and achieve local privilege escalation on target systems.\nThe vulnerability impacts the core infrastructure of Windows Remote Desktop Services, presenting significant risk implications for enterprise environments where multi-user access and remote administration are heavily utilized. Successful exploitation compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the underlying operating system.\nAttacker capabilities are constrained by specific prerequisite conditions. The threat actor must already possess authorized local access to the target system to interact with the vulnerable Remote Desktop Services component. Exploitation does not require network exposure or remote interaction, as the attack vector is strictly local.\nThe root cause stems from improper bounds checking and memory management within the heap allocation routines of the affected component, leading to memory corruption when processing specific data structures.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the memory management mechanisms of Windows Remote Desktop Services, specifically involving heap-based buffer overflow conditions during internal data processing.\nThe root cause of the flaw is the failure of the application to properly validate the size of input data before copying it into a dynamically allocated heap buffer within the vulnerable component.\nExploitation requires an authorized attacker to interact locally with the Remote Desktop Services subsystem. The attacker supplies a specially crafted input designed to exceed the allocated boundaries of the target heap buffer, causing a memory corruption event.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the local attacker authenticates to the system and initiates interaction with the vulnerable Remote Desktop Services component. Second, the attacker transmits maliciously structured input data that bypasses insufficient length validations. Third, the oversized data is written into the target heap buffer, overwriting adjacent heap metadata or critical application data structures.\nBy carefully manipulating the heap layout and overwriting adjacent memory objects, the attacker can hijack control flow or escalate execution privileges. The payload behavior facilitates arbitrary code execution within the context of a highly privileged system account, such as NT AUTHORITY\\SYSTEM.\nThe attack vector is local, requiring prior authorization and access to the host operating system. Network exposure is not a requirement for this specific exploit chain, as the vulnerability manifests entirely through local inter-process communication or API interaction with the Remote Desktop Services framework.\nPost-exploitation impact includes complete system compromise, enabling the attacker to install unauthorized software, create new accounts with full administrative privileges, modify system configurations, and bypass security controls."
}