CVE-2026-44815

The vulnerability consists of a stack-based buffer overflow (CWE-121) in the Windows DHCP Client component. An attacker can send specially crafted network packets to a vulnerable DHCP client without requiring any authentication. The stack overflow allows overwriting process control data and redirecting execution to code supplied by the attacker. The lack of user interaction requirements and special privileges makes the attack fully automated.

An attacker can gain full control over a vulnerable system through remote code execution (RCE) from the network level, which may lead to breach of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system.

Patches available from the manufacturer should be applied according to the references — detailed information about available updates can be found in the Microsoft Security Response Center at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-44815. Until the patch is deployed, it is recommended to limit network exposure of vulnerable systems and monitor DHCP traffic on the network.

Microsoft Windows systems with active DHCP Client component — specific versions indicated in the manufacturer's references (https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-44815)