CVE Catalog

CVE-2026-116638

HighCVSS 7.5
Published: Updated: Translated: NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk
0.42%

36th percentile - higher than 36% of all known CVEs

Summary

The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 10 and 11 may allow an attacker to bypass firmware security controls, including administrator-configured UEFI/BIOS passwords. An attacker with physical or administrative access to a device may be able to leverage WinRE-related boot mechanisms to circumvent firmware protections and gain unauthorized access to system resources.

Risk Assessment

A person with physical access to a device may bypass UEFI/BIOS passwords and firmware protections, undermining safeguards against unauthorized boot and data access. This poses particular risk for mobile or unattended devices.

Recommendation

Restrict physical access to devices and consider additional protections such as disk encryption (BitLocker) and boot password protection. Monitor administrative access and apply vendor updates related to WinRE.

Related vulnerabilities

Original NVD description (English source)

The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) in Windows 10 and 11 may allow an attacker to bypass firmware security controls, including administrator-configured UEFI/BIOS passwords. An attacker with physical or administrative access to a device may be able to leverage WinRE-related boot mechanisms to circumvent firmware protections and gain unauthorized access to system resources.

Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS