Privilege Escalation via Improper Permissions in Windows Error Reporting

Publication date: 2026-01-13

Last updated on: 2026-05-26

Assigner: Microsoft Corporation

Description

Improper handling of insufficient permissions or privileges in Windows Error Reporting allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

CVSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-01-13

Last Modified

2026-05-26

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-01-14

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-20817

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
microsoft	windows_error_reporting	*

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-280	The product does not handle or incorrectly handles when it has insufficient privileges to access resources or functionality as specified by their permissions. This may cause it to follow unexpected code paths that may leave the product in an invalid state.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability involves improper handling of insufficient permissions or privileges in Windows Error Reporting, which allows an authorized attacker to elevate their privileges locally on the affected system. [1]

Impact Analysis

An attacker who already has some level of authorization on the system can exploit this vulnerability to gain higher privileges, potentially leading to full control over the system and the ability to perform unauthorized actions. [1]

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