Microsoft Windows up to Server 2025 Windows Image Acquisition format string

CVSS Meta Temp Score
CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.
Current Exploit Price (≈)
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CTI Interest Score
Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
8.7$25k-$100k0.71

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Windows up to Server 2025. It has been rated as very critical. This affects an unknown function of the component Windows Image Acquisition. This manipulation causes format string. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-85842. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. To fix this issue, it is recommended to deploy a patch.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Microsoft Windows up to Server 2025 and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown function of the component Windows Image Acquisition. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a format string vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-134. The product uses a function that accepts a format string as an argument, but the format string originates from an external source. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Use of externally-controlled format string in Windows Image Acquisition allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

It is possible to read the advisory at msrc.microsoft.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-85842 since 09/04/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $25k-$100k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/14/2026).

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem.

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 8.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 8.7

VulDB Base Score: 9.9
VulDB Temp Score: 9.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 7.8
CNA Vector (microsoft): 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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💳💳💳💳💳💳
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Format string
CWE: CWE-134 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined
Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Timelineinfo

09/04/2026 CVE reserved
10/14/2026 +40 days Advisory disclosed
10/14/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
10/14/2026 +0 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: microsoft.com
Product: microsoft.com

Advisory: msrc.microsoft.com
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-85842 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-85842
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-419251
scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161215

Entryinfo

Created: 10/14/2026 08:23
Changes: 10/14/2026 08:23 (63)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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