{"description":"Trending threats, MITRE ATT\u0026CK coverage, and detection metadata — refreshed continuously.","feed_url":"https://feed.craftedsignal.io/tags/cve-2026-26159/","home_page_url":"https://feed.craftedsignal.io/","items":[{"_cs_actors":[],"_cs_cves":[{"cvss":7.8,"id":"CVE-2026-26159"}],"_cs_exploited":false,"_cs_products":[],"_cs_severities":["high"],"_cs_tags":["cve-2026-26159","privilege-escalation","windows"],"_cs_type":"advisory","_cs_vendors":[],"content_html":"\u003cp\u003eCVE-2026-26159 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service (RDLS). The vulnerability stems from a missing authentication check for a critical function within the service. An attacker with local access to a vulnerable system can exploit this flaw to elevate their privileges to SYSTEM. The vulnerability was reported to Microsoft and assigned a CVSS v3.1 score of 7.8 (HIGH). Successful exploitation allows an attacker to perform actions with elevated privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"attack-chain\"\u003eAttack Chain\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAttacker gains local access to a Windows system.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAttacker identifies the RDLS service running on the system.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAttacker crafts a malicious request to a critical function lacking authentication.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe vulnerable RDLS service processes the request without proper authentication.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAttacker leverages the improperly handled request to modify system configurations.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe system configuration changes grant the attacker elevated privileges.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe attacker executes arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"impact\"\u003eImpact\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuccessful exploitation of CVE-2026-26159 grants a local attacker elevated privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The attacker can install programs, view, change, or delete data, or create new accounts with full user rights. This vulnerability poses a significant risk to systems where local users are not fully trusted, such as shared workstations or environments with weak access controls. The impact is limited to local privilege escalation and does not enable remote code execution without prior local access.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"recommendation\"\u003eRecommendation\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eApply the security update provided by Microsoft to patch CVE-2026-26159 as soon as possible to remediate the vulnerability (\u003ca href=\"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-26159)\"\u003ehttps://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-26159)\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMonitor for suspicious process creation events associated with the Remote Desktop Licensing Service to detect potential exploitation attempts using the provided Sigma rules.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eImplement the provided Sigma rule to detect suspicious modifications of system configurations, which is a required step to achieve local privilege escalation.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n","date_modified":"2026-04-14T18:16:48Z","date_published":"2026-04-14T18:16:48Z","id":"/briefs/2026-04-rdls-privesc/","summary":"CVE-2026-26159 allows a local attacker to escalate privileges on Windows systems due to a missing authentication check in the Remote Desktop Licensing Service (RDLS).","title":"Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service Privilege Escalation via CVE-2026-26159","url":"https://feed.craftedsignal.io/briefs/2026-04-rdls-privesc/"}],"language":"en","title":"CraftedSignal Threat Feed — Cve-2026-26159","version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1"}