Feb 2026: Windows HTTP.sys Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
CVE-2026-21240 Published on February 10, 2026

Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in Windows HTTP.sys allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Vendor Advisory NVD

Weakness Type

What is a TOCTTOU Vulnerability?

The software checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check. This can cause the software to perform invalid actions when the resource is in an unexpected state. This weakness can be security-relevant when an attacker can influence the state of the resource between check and use. This can happen with shared resources such as files, memory, or even variables in multithreaded programs.

CVE-2026-21240 has been classified to as a TOCTTOU vulnerability or weakness.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-21240

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Affected Versions

Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809: Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H2: Microsoft Windows 10 Version 22H2: Microsoft Windows 11 version 22H3: Microsoft Windows 11 Version 23H2: Microsoft Windows 11 Version 24H2: Microsoft Windows 11 Version 25H2: Microsoft Windows 11 version 26H1: Microsoft Windows 11 Version 26H1: Microsoft Windows Server 2019: Microsoft Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation): Microsoft Windows Server 2022: Microsoft Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation): Microsoft Windows Server 2025: Microsoft Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation):

Exploit Probability

EPSS
0.02%
Percentile
5.39%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.