Windows Collaborative Translation Framework (CTFMON) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
CVE-2026-45586 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Collaborative Translation Framework (CTFMON). The flaw is caused by improper link resolution before file access ('link following'), allowing the component to follow a link to an unintended file or path during privileged file operations. Microsoft classifies the issue as CWE-59. According to the provided sources, exploitation is local, requires low privileges, and does not require user interaction. Successful exploitation can result in privilege escalation to SYSTEM.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
Impact
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Mitigation
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
Affected products & vendors
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
17 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A link-following privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows Collaborative Translation Framework that can allow local authenticated attackers to gain SYSTEM privileges.
A privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows Collaborative Translation Framework that can allow escalation to SYSTEM.
An elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Collaborative Translation Framework (CTFMON).
A high-severity Windows local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows Collaborative Translation Framework caused by improper link resolution before file access ('link following'). It could be chained with another flaw to gain SYSTEM privileges.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.