Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2022-26904
CVE-2022-26904
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Microsoft Windows User Profile Service privilege escalation vulnerability (CWE-362) allowing local attackers to gain elevated system privileges.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A race condition in Windows User Profile Service enables local privilege escalation. Exploitation requires local access but no user interaction. Active exploitation observed in the wild demonstrates practical attack viability.
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
2 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-04-25).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.09738 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Microsoft, Windows. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-362 Race Condition.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
WeaknessCWE-362 · Race Condition
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
Gain local system access through initial compromise or valid credentials.
Business
Attacker establishes foothold on Windows endpoint within organizational network.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
Exploit race condition in User Profile Service to escalate privileges to SYSTEM level.
Business
Attacker obtains unrestricted control over compromised system and its data.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
Execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges to install persistence mechanisms.
Business
Attacker maintains long-term access and can move laterally across infrastructure.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05