CVE-2026-54989 Quality Windows Audio/Video Experience (QWAVE) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
An authorized local attacker can exploit a use-after-free flaw in the QWAVE service to elevate privileges on Windows systems.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-54989?
CVE-2026-54989 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1607, published on 14 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Use after free in Quality Windows Audio/Video Experience (QWAVE) service allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Weakness: CWE-416
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-54989?
It affects 12 products.
Products include Microsoft Windows 10 1607, Microsoft Windows 10 1809, Microsoft Windows 10 21h2, Microsoft Windows 10 22h2, Microsoft Windows 11 24h2, Microsoft Windows 11 25h2 and 6 more.
How do I fix CVE-2026-54989?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-54989 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-54989 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54989 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows 10 1607
- CVE-2026-33824 Microsoft Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Service Extensions Double Free
- CVE-2026-21510 Microsoft Windows Shell Protection Mechanism Failure
- CVE-2026-21513 Microsoft MSHTML Framework Protection Mechanism Failure
- CVE-2023-32049 Microsoft Windows Defender SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass
- CVE-2023-29360 Microsoft Streaming Service Untrusted Pointer Dereference
Sources
Also known as GHSA-2jg7-rpr9-3585.