CVE-2026-122164Microsoft Windows 10 weak authentication
CVE-2026-122164 is a weak authentication in Microsoft Windows 10, rated high (8.0 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: High severity, with no exploitation signal yet.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Awaiting Analysis
What it is
The sign-in check can be passed without proving who the caller is.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, with an administrator account, and nobody has to click anything. Success also depends on conditions the attacker does not fully control.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker act as a signed-in user, or an administrator, without valid credentials. The damage can spread past the vulnerable component into others.
Is it being exploited?
There is no public report of exploitation yet.
What to do
- Apply the update for your edition of Microsoft Windows 10. Fixed builds: Windows 10 Version 1607: 10.0.14393.9688; Windows 10 Version 1809: 10.0.17763.9487; Windows 10 Version 21H2: 10.0.19044.7846; Windows 10 Version 22H2: 10.0.19045.7846. Other affected products have their own fixed versions on this page.
- Until it is patched, review who holds accounts that can reach it.
Description from NVD
Weak authentication in Windows Kerberos allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Sign-in, session and token handling. The flaw sits between anonymous callers and authenticated sessions.
- Identity providers and SSO. The flaw sits between anonymous callers and authenticated sessions.
Trust boundaries in play
- Authenticated network access. An account is needed, so exposure follows who can sign in: customers, partners or staff.
- Isolation between components. The impact crosses out of the vulnerable component into others it should be isolated from.
- Between anonymous callers and authenticated sessions. An attacker who crosses it can act as a signed-in user, or an administrator, without valid credentials.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Microsoft Windows 10 run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.