A use‑after‑free bug in the Windows USB Print Driver allows an authorized local attacker to elevate privileges. The flaw, identified as CWE‑416, permits the attacker to gain elevated access on the affected systems, potentially enabling full system compromise, data exfiltration, or persistence. The vulnerability specifically allows local privilege escalation, which can be abused to execute arbitrary code or modify system configurations.

Microsoft Windows 10 versions 21H2 and 22H2, Microsoft Windows 11 versions 23H2, 24H2, 25H2, 26H2, 26H1, Microsoft Windows Server 2022, and Microsoft Windows Server 2025 (including Server Core installations). The affected products span both x86 and ARM64 architectures across these releases. The list covers the full range of official Microsoft releases enumerated in the CNA data.

The CVSS score of 7 indicates a high severity of the vulnerability, but the EPSS score is not available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The likely attack vector is local; an attacker must have authorized access to a target machine and be able to interact with a USB device that triggers the driver bug. Because the flaw requires a local user context with loadable driver privileges, exploitation is constrained to environments where a user can install or use a USB printer driver. Nonetheless, once succeeded, the local privilege escalation yields complete administrative control over the compromised system.