Description

Double free in Windows Autopilot allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.0",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-11T17:18:57.427Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-11T17:18:57.427Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A privilege escalation vulnerability of the double free type exists within Windows Autopilot, affecting locally installed system components. This security flaw enables an authorized local attacker to manipulate memory management operations, leading to heap corruption and unauthorized elevation of privileges on the targeted system.\nThe executive risk implication is significant as it provides a low-privileged local user with a mechanism to execute arbitrary code or commands in the context of a higher privileged user, such as SYSTEM. Exploitation requires the attacker to possess prior authorization and local access to the operating system, bypassing standard access control mechanisms through memory safety violations.\nThe vulnerability stems from improper handling of dynamic memory allocation and deallocation within the affected Windows Autopilot component. When specific sequences of operations are triggered, the same memory buffer is freed multiple times, creating a corrupted heap state. An attacker can leverage this condition to manipulate internal memory structures, achieve arbitrary read and write capabilities, and ultimately execute payload behavior that escalates local privileges.\nNo specific version numbers or external network exposure vectors are detailed in the initial parameters, categorizing this strictly as a local attack vector requiring execution capabilities. Remediation requires applying official vendor patches or updates addressing memory corruption handling within the vulnerable Windows Autopilot binaries.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of the vulnerability is a double free memory management defect residing within the Windows Autopilot subsystem. A double free condition occurs when an application attempts to release the same memory allocation block to the heap manager more than once without an intervening allocation request. This anomalous sequence corrupts internal heap control metadata, such as chunk headers, free lists, or lookaside structures maintained by the Windows heap manager.\nThe vulnerable component involves the internal modules responsible for processing Windows Autopilot routines. Because the application logic fails to properly nullify pointers following memory deallocation, dangling pointers are left accessible. Subsequent code execution paths trigger the deallocation routine on the same dangling pointer, successfully corrupting adjacent heap chunks and destabilizing the memory layout.\nPrerequisites for successful exploitation require an authorized attacker to have local interactive or programmatic access to the host operating system. The attack vector is strictly local, meaning network exposure is not a factor. The attacker must possess initial low privileges to interact with the vulnerable Windows Autopilot interfaces or APIs that trigger the faulty memory management code paths.\nThe attack flow proceeds in sequential phases. First, the attacker initiates contact with the vulnerable Windows Autopilot component using locally available execution contexts. Second, the attacker induces a state where dynamic memory associated with specific objects or structures is allocated and prematurely freed. Third, by carefully timing or structuring subsequent operations, the attacker triggers the secondary free operation on the already released memory address, inducing the double free condition.\nPost-exploitation impact and payload behavior center around heap manipulation techniques. Following the heap corruption induced by the double free, the attacker can groom the heap using controlled allocations and deallocations (heap spraying or chunk overlapping). This manipulation allows the attacker to overwrite critical function pointers, virtual method tables (vptrs), or object structures. When the application subsequently invokes these modified pointers, control flow is hijacked, permitting the execution of malicious shellcode or arbitrary commands with elevated privileges, typically resulting in local privilege escalation to the SYSTEM security context."
}