Description

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

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-11T17:18:19.683Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-11T17:18:19.683Z",
  "executiveSummary": "This vulnerability is a heap-based buffer overflow affecting Windows NTFS. The flaw enables an authorized local attacker to achieve privilege escalation on targeted systems.\nThe vulnerability represents a critical security risk as successful exploitation compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the operating system by granting unauthorized administrative or higher-level capabilities.\nAffected systems include implementations of Windows NTFS where proper bounds checking is absent during specific memory allocation and data processing operations.\nExploitation requirements dictate that the adversary must already possess authorized local access to the target system before initiating the attack vector.\nThe risk implications are severe, as a locally authenticated user can weaponize this heap corruption flaw to bypass security boundaries, execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, and potentially compromise the entire host operating system.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the Windows NTFS component, specifically in the handling of memory allocation routines where input data exceeds the allocated bounds of a heap buffer.\nThe root cause stems from insufficient validation of input size parameters prior to copy operations into heap-allocated memory structures, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow condition.\nExploitation of this flaw requires the attacker to have local access and authorization to interact with the vulnerable Windows NTFS subsystem.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the authenticated attacker crafts a specialized payload designed to trigger the unsafe memory copy operation within the vulnerable component. Second, the attacker interacts with the Windows NTFS file system using malicious inputs or filesystem requests. Third, the system processes the request, allocating a heap buffer of insufficient size. Fourth, the subsequent data write overflows the heap boundary, overwriting adjacent heap metadata or critical objects in memory.\nBy meticulously corrupting adjacent memory structures on the heap, the attacker can manipulate execution flow or alter sensitive kernel-mode or user-mode data structures.\nThe post-exploitation impact allows the adversary to execute arbitrary code in the context of a higher privileged process or the kernel, resulting in complete local privilege escalation.\nNetwork exposure is not required for this vulnerability, as the attack vector is strictly local and necessitates prior authentication on the host system."
}