Jan 2026: Desktop Window Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
CVE-2026-20871 Published on January 13, 2026

Desktop Window Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Use after free in Desktop Windows Manager allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Vendor Advisory NVD

Weakness Type

What is a Dangling pointer Vulnerability?

Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code.

CVE-2026-20871 has been classified to as a Dangling pointer vulnerability or weakness.

Products Associated with CVE-2026-20871

You can be notified by email with stack.watch whenever vulnerabilities like CVE-2026-20871 are published in these products:

Microsoft Windows Server 2022

Microsoft Windows 10

Microsoft Windows Server 2025

Microsoft Windows 11 25h2

Microsoft Windows 11 23h2

Microsoft Windows Server 23h2

Microsoft Windows 11 24h2

Affected Versions

Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H2:

Version 10.0.19044.0 and below 10.0.19044.6809 is affected.

Microsoft Windows 10 Version 22H2:

Version 10.0.19045.0 and below 10.0.19045.6809 is affected.

Microsoft Windows 11 version 22H3:

Version 10.0.22631.0 and below 10.0.22631.6491 is affected.

Microsoft Windows 11 Version 23H2:

Version 10.0.22631.0 and below 10.0.22631.6491 is affected.

Microsoft Windows 11 Version 24H2:

Version 10.0.26100.0 and below 10.0.26100.7623 is affected.

Microsoft Windows 11 Version 25H2:

Version 10.0.26200.0 and below 10.0.26200.7623 is affected.

Microsoft Windows Server 2022:

Version 10.0.20348.0 and below 10.0.20348.4648 is affected.

Microsoft Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation):

Version 10.0.25398.0 and below 10.0.25398.2092 is affected.

Microsoft Windows Server 2025:

Version 10.0.26100.0 and below 10.0.26100.32230 is affected.

Microsoft Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation):

Version 10.0.26100.0 and below 10.0.26100.32230 is affected.

Exploit Probability

EPSS

0.04%

Percentile

10.29%