CVE-2026-45487: Windows Program Compatibility Assistant Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition in Program Compatibility Assistant Service allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
CSIRTS triage
- What
- A time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
- Who is affected
- Authorized users of Windows with the Program Compatibility Assistant Service.
- Urgency
- Remediation is urgent due to the high severity and potential for privilege escalation.
- Action
- Apply the latest security patch for Windows.
AI-assisted analysis generated from the source advisory — verify against the original.
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Details
Original advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45487
Exploitation outlook
EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.
- Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-454870.18% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 8% of all scored CVEs.
Referenced CVEs
| CVE | CSIRTS overview | External |
|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-45487 | coverage & exploitation status | NVD · CVE.org |
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