Back to board Open MSRC
MSRC compact vulnerability detail

CVE-2026-26168 · Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Severity
Important
Impact
Elevation of Privilege
CVSS
7.8 base · 6.8 temporal
Release
2026-04-14
Signals
Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Exploited: No Publicly disclosed: No Exploitability: Exploitation Less Likely
CWE
CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') CWE-416: Use After Free
Patch Diff
Loading module diff metadata...
Resolved binary override
Use this when the MSRC module name cannot be mapped automatically or the resolved binary looks wrong.
Old version New version
Description
Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
FAQ / Articles
Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization ('race condition') in Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
FAQ
According to the CVSS metric, successful exploitation could lead to a scope change (S:C). What does this mean for this vulnerability? In this case, a successful attack could be performed from a low privilege AppContainer. The attacker could elevate their privileges and execute code or access resources at a higher integrity level than that of the AppContainer execution environment.
FAQ
What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges.
FAQ
According to the CVSS metric, the attack complexity is high (AC:H). What does that mean for this vulnerability? Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to win a race condition.