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d4 · tools · cve

CVE-2026-81963.

Severity, exploit probability and exploitation status for one vulnerability, drawn from NVD, FIRST EPSS and CISA's exploited catalogue.

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known exploited Microsoft Windows Link Following Vulnerability

Vendor / product
Microsoft - Windows
Listed by CISA
2026-09-08
Federal fix deadline
2026-09-22 (7 days away)
Required action
Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.

Scores

CVSS 3.1
7.8 high CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS
0.63% estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (higher than 48% of all CVEs)
Weakness class
CWE-59, CWE-284

ATT&CK techniques

inferred from weakness class no curated mapping exists for this CVE; these are the techniques typically seen with CWE-59, CWE-284 vulnerabilities

ReconnaissanceResource DevelopmentInitial AccessExecutionPersistencePrivilege EscalationStealthDefense ImpairmentCredential AccessDiscoveryLateral MovementCollectionCommand and ControlExfiltrationImpact

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application

Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

Inferred from CWE-284.

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter

Execution

Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.

Inferred from CWE-284.

T1014 Rootkit

Stealth

Adversaries may use rootkits to hide the presence of programs, files, network connections, services, drivers, and other system components.

Inferred from CWE-284.

T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information

Stealth

Adversaries may attempt to make an executable or file difficult to discover or analyze by encrypting, encoding, or otherwise obfuscating its contents on the system or in transit.

via sub-technique T1027.009 Embedded Payloads

Inferred from CWE-284, CWE-59.

T1056 Input Capture

Credential AccessCollection

Adversaries may use methods of capturing user input to obtain credentials or collect information.

Inferred from CWE-284.

T1082 System Information Discovery

Discovery

An adversary may attempt to get detailed information about the operating system and hardware, including version, patches, hotfixes, service packs, and architecture.

Inferred from CWE-284.

T1005 Data from Local System

Collection

Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.

Inferred from CWE-284.

T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer

Command and Control

Adversaries may transfer tools or other files from an external system into a compromised environment.

Inferred from CWE-284.

See these techniques on the full ATT&CK matrix.

Description

Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Update Stack allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Published
2026-09-08
Last modified
2026-09-09
NVD status
Analyzed

References

Covered in Decrypted

CVSS measures how bad exploitation would be; EPSS estimates how likely exploitation is within 30 days; the CISA listing means it is already happening. Read them together: a CVSS 9.8 with EPSS 0.04% is usually less urgent than a CVSS 7.2 on the exploited list. Data: NVD, FIRST EPSS, CISA KEV; detail is cached for a week, scores for a day. ATT&CK techniques come from the CTID KEV mappings project where a curated mapping exists, otherwise they are inferred from the weakness class and labelled as such. ATT&CK is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation.