CVE-2026-41091

CRITICALPre-NVD 7.89.0
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

“▲” beside the score: it is higher than the CVSS score beside it.

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-05-20), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. The CNA's CVSS baseline 7.8 retained for reference (NVD's own analysis pending). The 9.0 is the floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: this CVE's impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH under GitHub Security Advisory CVSS. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, the CNA's CVSS, EPSS, GitHub Security Advisory
Exploited in the wild

Also known asEUVD-2026-31101 (ENISA EUVD) · GHSA-h776-j9jw-992p (GitHub Security Advisories)Source: ENISA EUVD

9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV) — the reason this is sooner than the SSVC decision on this page at low or medium mission impact
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 8.2%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: Public PoCExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

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

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
75
EG Risk 75/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity78% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 7.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation100% × 40%
Fixed at 100% for a CISA KEV listing: EchelonGraph's rule.
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.
Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.
EPSS PROB
8.2%
EPSS %ILE
94th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (9.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.0 is the CISA KEV floor for confirmed exploitation, not an impact rating: its impact severity (EG Severity) is CVSS 7.8 HIGH.

EG Severity
7.8 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
EG Likelihood
8.2% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-11-12). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
CISA KEV and EG-KEV Tier 1 (exploited in the wild)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Attend at medium mission impactTrack at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.Each input and its source, and whom BOD 26-04 binds: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days & forensic triage if the affected system is publicly exposed; 14 days if it is not.

The score's inputs: In CISA KEV yes (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

CISA required action“Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.”

Quoted verbatim from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. CISA directs it at US federal civilian executive branch agencies under Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 26-04, which replaced BOD 22-01 on 10 June 2026; it is not EchelonGraph's advice. CISA's notes: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41091 · https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41091

Published

May 20, 2026

Last Modified

August 10, 2026

Advisory Details (1)

Auto-updated Nov 9, 2026
⚠️ Actively exploited (CISA KEV, CISA Vulnrichment). Patch available. Sources: microsoft.
Microsoft

Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41091

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-41091(2)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 0× in last 7d / 0× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed its CVE.org record (CNA or CISA ADP). An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). "EchelonGraph re-scored" is our own recompute of this CVE's score, not an update from a source, and is not counted in the refreshes above. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-11-13 16:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  2. 2026-11-13 00:19 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  3. 2026-11-13 00:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  4. 2026-11-12 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  5. 2026-11-11 22:22 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  6. 2026-11-11 22:22 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-11-11 22:21 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  8. 2026-11-11 16:39 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  9. 2026-11-10 20:20 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  10. 2026-11-10 20:20 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  11. 2026-11-10 16:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  12. 2026-11-09 18:23 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  13. 2026-11-09 18:23 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  14. 2026-11-09 16:35 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  15. 2026-11-08 16:39 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  16. 2026-11-08 16:26 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-11-08 16:26 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  18. 2026-11-08 10:11 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  19. 2026-11-08 10:11 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-11-08 10:11 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  21. 2026-11-07 16:39 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  22. 2026-11-07 08:10 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  23. 2026-11-07 08:10 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-11-07 08:10 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  25. 2026-11-06 16:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-11-06 06:12 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  2. 2026-11-06 06:12 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-11-06 06:12 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  4. 2026-11-05 16:37 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  5. 2026-11-05 04:15 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  6. 2026-11-05 04:15 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-11-05 04:15 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  8. 2026-11-04 16:35 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  9. 2026-11-04 02:14 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  10. 2026-11-04 02:14 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-11-04 02:14 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  12. 2026-11-03 16:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  13. 2026-11-03 00:16 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  14. 2026-11-03 00:16 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-11-03 00:16 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  16. 2026-11-01 22:17 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  17. 2026-11-01 22:17 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-11-01 22:17 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  19. 2026-11-01 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  20. 2026-10-31 20:19 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  21. 2026-10-31 20:19 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-10-31 20:19 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  23. 2026-10-31 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  24. 2026-10-30 18:22 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  25. 2026-10-30 18:22 UTCVendor advisory
  26. 2026-10-30 18:22 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  27. 2026-10-30 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  28. 2026-10-29 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  29. 2026-10-29 16:25 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-10-29 16:25 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  31. 2026-10-29 13:51 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  32. 2026-10-29 13:51 UTCVendor advisory
  33. 2026-10-29 13:51 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  34. 2026-10-28 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  35. 2026-10-28 11:54 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  36. 2026-10-28 11:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  37. 2026-10-27 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  38. 2026-10-27 09:57 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  39. 2026-10-27 09:57 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  40. 2026-10-26 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  41. 2026-10-26 08:00 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  42. 2026-10-26 08:00 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  43. 2026-10-25 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 8.2% · 94th percentile
  44. 2026-10-25 14:30 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  45. 2026-10-25 06:03 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  46. 2026-10-25 06:03 UTCVendor advisory
  47. 2026-10-25 06:03 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  48. 2026-10-24 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  49. 2026-10-24 04:05 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  50. 2026-10-24 04:05 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  51. 2026-10-23 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  52. 2026-10-23 02:05 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  53. 2026-10-23 02:05 UTCVendor advisory
  54. 2026-10-23 02:05 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  55. 2026-10-22 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  56. 2026-10-22 00:08 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  57. 2026-10-22 00:08 UTCVendor advisory
  58. 2026-10-22 00:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  59. 2026-10-21 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  60. 2026-10-20 22:08 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  61. 2026-10-20 22:08 UTCVendor advisory
  62. 2026-10-20 22:08 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  63. 2026-10-20 16:33 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  64. 2026-10-19 20:08 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  65. 2026-10-19 20:08 UTCVendor advisory
  66. 2026-10-19 20:08 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  67. 2026-10-19 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  68. 2026-10-18 18:07 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  69. 2026-10-18 18:07 UTCVendor advisory
  70. 2026-10-18 18:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8
  71. 2026-10-18 16:32 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  72. 2026-10-18 03:42 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  73. 2026-10-17 16:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 0.4% · 37th percentile
  74. 2026-10-17 16:07 UTCEchelonGraph re-scored
  75. 2026-10-17 16:07 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-h776-j9jw-992p · GitHub severity HIGH · GitHub CVSS 7.8

Publicly available exploits

(4 references)

Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (4 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.

  • GitHub PoCtc4dy/CVE-2026-41091-PoC-Exploit
    Published Jun 20, 2026

    🔥 CVE-2026-41091 SolarFlare | Microsoft Defender LPE exploit. Low-privileged users gain NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM via Cloud Files API + NTFS junction trickery. Forces Defender to write malicious payloads to System32 with SYSTEM rights. ⚠️ Actively exploited in wild. CVSS 7.8. Patch: Defender Engine 1.1.26040.8. 🛡️ Educational PoC only.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoC0xBlackash/CVE-2026-41091
    Published May 21, 2026

    CVE-2026-41091

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoC0xredash/CVE-2026-41091
    Published May 21, 2026

    CVE-2026-41091

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCashrafzaryouh/CVE-2026-41091
    Published May 21, 2026

    CVE-2026-41091

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2026-41091?
CVE-2026-41091 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on May 20, 2026. Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft Defender allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
When was CVE-2026-41091 made public?
CVE-2026-41091 was made public on May 19, 2026: that is the date its CVE record's CNA, Microsoft Corporation, gives for when the vulnerability was made public. The CVE record itself was published on May 20, 2026. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of August 10, 2026; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2026-41091 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2026-41091 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on May 20, 2026, affecting Microsoft Defender. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. A fix is available. Apply it.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-41091?
CVE-2026-41091 has a CVSS base score of 7.8 (the CNA's own assessment, by microsoft; NVD's own analysis pending). EchelonGraph synthesises the CNA's CVSS + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0 (CRITICAL).
Which products are affected by CVE-2026-41091?
CVE-2026-41091 affects Microsoft Defender.
How do I remediate CVE-2026-41091?
A fix for CVE-2026-41091 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2026-41091 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

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