Description

Use after free in Windows Kerberos allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.0",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-11T17:18:30.067Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-11T17:18:30.067Z",
  "executiveSummary": "This vulnerability is classified as a use-after-free weakness affecting the Windows Kerberos protocol component. The flaw enables an authenticated, local attacker to achieve an elevation of privileges on targeted systems. Exploitation of this security defect compromises the integrity and confidentiality of the host operating system by allowing execution with elevated permissions. The attack requires local access and an authorized user context to successfully initiate exploitation sequences. Risk implications include unauthorized privilege escalation, which can lead to complete system compromise if leveraged in conjunction with other vulnerabilities or misconfigurations. The executive assessment identifies the primary vector as local execution where memory management flaws within the Kerberos authentication mechanism are manipulated to execute arbitrary code or alter process state.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in the Windows Kerberos component responsible for handling authentication tickets and security context allocations. Specifically, a use-after-free condition occurs when memory is improperly managed during object lifecycle transitions, leaving a dangling pointer referencing a previously deallocated memory block. The root cause stems from insufficient reference counting or improper synchronization within the heap management routines of the affected Kerberos functions. An authorized local attacker with execution capabilities can interact with the vulnerable component to trigger the premature release of specific heap-allocated objects while maintaining references to those structures. Subsequent manipulation of the dangling pointer allows the attacker to influence program execution flow through deterministic heap grooming and reuse of the freed memory region. The attack flow initiates when the malicious process interacts with local Kerberos APIs or services, inducing a race condition or specific state sequence that frees the target object. The attacker then populates the newly reclaimed memory space with controlled payload data, ensuring that subsequent dereferencing operations execute attacker-supplied instructions or manipulate internal control structures. Authentication requirements dictate that the attacker must possess valid local credentials to interact with the vulnerable subsystem. Privilege requirements are limited to standard local execution, as the flaw facilitates the transition from a lower privilege level to an elevated context, such as SYSTEM or Administrator. Network exposure is localized, as the attack vector relies entirely on local inter-process communication and API calls targeting the Windows Kerberos implementation. Post-exploitation impact includes arbitrary code execution within a privileged context, enabling complete control over the local operating system, credential harvesting, and persistence establishment."
}