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Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-40398

High
CWE-122 — Weakness Type
Published: May 12, 2026  ·  Modified: May 19, 2026  ·  Source: NVD
CVSS v3
7.8
🔗 NVD Official
📄 Description (English)

Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows Remote Desktop allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

🤖 AI Executive Summary

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Windows Remote Desktop (CVE-2026-40398) allows authorized local attackers to escalate privileges with a CVSS score of 7.8. While no public exploit is currently available and patches are not yet released, the vulnerability affects multiple Windows 10 versions widely deployed across Saudi organizations. This represents a significant insider threat risk requiring immediate monitoring and compensating controls until Microsoft releases patches.

📄 Description (Arabic)

🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: May 19, 2026 00:16
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
Saudi banking sector (SAMA-regulated institutions) faces significant risk as RDP is heavily used for remote administration of critical systems. Government agencies under NCA oversight, particularly those managing sensitive data, are vulnerable to insider privilege escalation attacks. Healthcare organizations (MOH, private hospitals) using RDP for administrative access could experience unauthorized system access. Energy sector (ARAMCO, utilities) and telecommunications (STC, Mobily) infrastructure relying on Windows 10 for operational technology management are at elevated risk. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for organizations with inadequate insider threat detection and privileged access management controls.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking and Financial Services Government and Public Administration Healthcare Energy and Utilities Telecommunications Critical Infrastructure Education
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
7.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Inventory all Windows 10 systems (versions 1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2) across your organization, particularly those with RDP enabled
2. Restrict RDP access to authorized personnel only using network segmentation and firewall rules
3. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all RDP connections
4. Enable RDP session logging and configure alerts for privilege escalation attempts
5. Review and audit all active RDP sessions and recent connection logs for suspicious activity

COMPENSATING CONTROLS (until patch available):
6. Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions with heap overflow detection capabilities
7. Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized privilege escalation tools
8. Use Windows Defender Exploit Guard with Control Flow Guard (CFG) enabled
9. Apply principle of least privilege - remove unnecessary local admin rights from user accounts
10. Isolate critical systems from general user access networks

DETECTION RULES:
11. Monitor for abnormal RDP process behavior, particularly mstsc.exe and rdpcomp.exe spawning unexpected child processes
12. Alert on heap corruption indicators and access violations in Remote Desktop services
13. Track privilege escalation events (Event ID 4688 with elevated token claims)
14. Monitor for suspicious memory access patterns in svchost.exe (RDP service host)

PATCHING GUIDANCE:
15. Subscribe to Microsoft Security Updates and apply patches immediately upon release
16. Prioritize patching for systems in high-risk environments (banking, government, healthcare)
17. Test patches in non-production environments before enterprise deployment
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. قم بحصر جميع أنظمة Windows 10 (الإصدارات 1607 و 1809 و 21H2 و 22H2) عبر مؤسستك، خاصة تلك التي تحتوي على RDP مفعل
2. قيد الوصول إلى RDP للموظفين المصرح لهم فقط باستخدام تقسيم الشبكة وقواعد جدار الحماية
3. طبق المصادقة متعددة العوامل (MFA) لجميع اتصالات RDP
4. فعّل تسجيل جلسات RDP وقم بتكوين التنبيهات لمحاولات تصعيد الامتيازات
5. راجع وتدقيق جميع جلسات RDP النشطة وسجلات الاتصال الأخيرة للنشاط المريب

الضوابط التعويضية (حتى توفر التصحيح):
6. نشر حلول كشف الاستجابة للنقاط الطرفية (EDR) مع قدرات كشف تجاوز الكومة
7. طبق قائمة التطبيقات المسموحة لمنع أدوات تصعيد الامتيازات غير المصرح بها
8. استخدم Windows Defender Exploit Guard مع تفعيل Control Flow Guard (CFG)
9. طبق مبدأ أقل امتياز - أزل حقوق المسؤول المحلي غير الضرورية من حسابات المستخدمين
10. عزل الأنظمة الحرجة عن شبكات الوصول العام للمستخدمين

قواعد الكشف:
11. راقب السلوك غير الطبيعي لعملية RDP، خاصة mstsc.exe و rdpcomp.exe التي تولد عمليات فرعية غير متوقعة
12. تنبيه على مؤشرات تلف الكومة وانتهاكات الوصول في خدمات سطح المكتب البعيد
13. تتبع أحداث تصعيد الامتيازات (معرف الحدث 4688 مع مطالبات الرموز المرفوعة)
14. راقب أنماط الوصول إلى الذاكرة المريبة في svchost.exe (مضيف خدمة RDP)

إرشادات التصحيح:
15. اشترك في تحديثات أمان Microsoft وطبق التصحيحات فورًا عند إصدارها
16. أولويات التصحيح للأنظمة في البيئات عالية المخاطر (البنوك والحكومة والرعاية الصحية)
17. اختبر التصحيحات في بيئات غير الإنتاج قبل نشر المؤسسة
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.5.1.1 - Access Control Policies (RDP access restrictions) ECC 2024 A.5.2.1 - User Registration and De-registration (privileged account management) ECC 2024 A.5.3.1 - Access Rights Review (periodic RDP access audits) ECC 2024 A.8.2.1 - Information Security Awareness (insider threat training) ECC 2024 A.12.4.1 - Event Logging (RDP session and privilege escalation logging)
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.AM-2 - Asset Management (inventory Windows 10 systems with RDP) SAMA CSF PR.AC-1 - Access Control (restrict RDP to authorized users) SAMA CSF PR.AC-4 - Access Management (implement MFA for RDP) SAMA CSF DE.CM-1 - Detection Processes (monitor for privilege escalation) SAMA CSF RS.MI-2 - Incident Response (contain and isolate compromised systems)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.3 - Segregation of duties (RDP access controls) ISO 27001:2022 A.6.2 - User access management (privileged account management) ISO 27001:2022 A.8.1 - User endpoint devices (Windows 10 security hardening) ISO 27001:2022 A.8.2 - Privileged access rights (least privilege principle) ISO 27001:2022 A.8.15 - Logging (RDP and privilege escalation event logging)
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0.1
PCI DSS 2.1 - Change default passwords and security parameters PCI DSS 7.1 - Restrict access to cardholder data by business need PCI DSS 8.1 - Assign unique ID to each person with computer access PCI DSS 8.2 - Restrict access to cardholder data by user ID and authentication PCI DSS 10.2 - Implement automated audit trails for access to cardholder data
📦 Affected Products / CPE 25 entries
microsoft:windows_10_1607
microsoft:windows_10_1607
microsoft:windows_10_1809
microsoft:windows_10_1809
microsoft:windows_10_21h2
microsoft:windows_10_21h2
microsoft:windows_10_21h2
microsoft:windows_10_22h2
microsoft:windows_10_22h2
microsoft:windows_10_22h2
microsoft:windows_11_23h2
microsoft:windows_11_23h2
microsoft:windows_11_24h2
microsoft:windows_11_24h2
microsoft:windows_11_25h2
microsoft:windows_11_25h2
microsoft:windows_11_26h1
microsoft:windows_11_26h1
microsoft:windows_server_2012:-
microsoft:windows_server_2012:r2
microsoft:windows_server_2016
microsoft:windows_server_2019
microsoft:windows_server_2022
microsoft:windows_server_2022_23h2
microsoft:windows_server_2025
📊 CVSS Score
7.8
/ 10.0 — High
📊 CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack VectorL — Low / Local
Attack ComplexityL — Low / Local
Privileges RequiredL — Low / Local
User InteractionN — None / Network
ScopeU — Unchanged
ConfidentialityH — High
IntegrityH — High
AvailabilityH — High
📋 Quick Facts
Severity High
CVSS Score7.8
CWECWE-122
EPSS0.02%
Exploit No
Patch ✗ No
Published 2026-05-12
Source Feed nvd
🇸🇦 Saudi Risk Score
7.2
/ 10.0 — Saudi Risk
Priority: HIGH
🏷️ Tags
CWE-122
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