Is CVE-2026-41091 actively exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks CVE-2026-41091 as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

What exploitation activity has KEV Intelligence observed?

KEV Intelligence has not yet recorded sensor-observed exploitation attempts for CVE-2026-41091. Our sensors continue to monitor for activity targeting this CVE.

Which versions are affected?

CVE-2026-41091 affects Microsoft Microsoft Malware Protection Engine. Reported affected version: 1.1.0.0 to < 1.1.26040.8.

Yes. CVE-2026-41091 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. KEV Intelligence attested it 1 day ahead of CISA.

CVE-2026-41091 Exploited in the Wild — Microsoft Malware Protection Engine

Q: What is CVE-2026-41091?

CVE-2026-41091 is Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft Defender allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Q: How should organizations remediate it?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Q: Is it in CISA KEV?

Yes. CVE-2026-41091 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. KEV Intelligence attested it 1 day ahead of CISA.

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2026-41091 is Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability. Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft Defender allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Microsoft / Microsoft Malware Protection Engine affected before 1.1.26040.8.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft Defender allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Vendor Product Affected Status

Microsoft Microsoft Malware Protection Engine Before 1.1.26040.8 Affected

View vendor advisory

Published: 20 May 2026
Exploitation Reported: 01 Jun 2026
Attack vector: Local
Complexity: Low
Privileges: Low
User interaction: None

CVE References

CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-41091
Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability msrc.microsoft.com · Vendor Advisory https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41091

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CVE

Recorded 01 Jun 2026

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access

Source	Added
CVE First	2026-06-01 13:29 UTC
CISA	2026-06-02 14:00 UTC
Tenable Blog	2026-06-09 19:21 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets: 0
User-Agents: 0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Scanner coverage

No scanner integrations recorded yet.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

No detection artifacts or sensor request patterns are available for this CVE yet.

Check back as sensor telemetry and scanner integrations are updated.

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

7.8 High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

EPSS

9.6%

Weaknesses

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') CWE-59

Recent mention · Rapid7

Patch Tuesday - June 2026

Microsoft is publishing 200 vulnerabilities on June 2026 Patch Tuesday. Microsoft is not aware of exploitation in the wild for any of these vulnerabilities, and is aware of public disclosure for three. This is similar to last month’s Patch Tuesday, however several of last...

Read full advisory

All Mentions

Recent mention · Rapid7

Patch Tuesday - June 2026

Rapid7 · 09 Jun 2026

Microsoft is publishing 200 vulnerabilities on June 2026 Patch Tuesday. Microsoft is not aware of exploitation in the wild for any of these vulnerabilities, and is aware of public disclosure for three. This is similar to last month’s Patch Tuesday, however several of last month’s vulnerabilities ended up on CISA KEV in the days following their publication. So far this month, Microsoft has provided patches to address 360 browser vulnerabilities, which is an order of magnitude more than has been typical in any given month over the past few years. As usual, browser vulns are not included in...

Recent mention · Tenable Blog

Microsoft’s June 2026 Patch Tuesday Addresses 198 CVEs ( CVE-2026-49160, CVE-2026-50507)

Tenable Blog · 09 Jun 2026

32Critical166Important0Moderate0LowMicrosoft addresses 198 CVEs in the largest Patch Tuesday release, including three zero-days.Microsoft patched 198 CVEs in its June 2026 Patch Tuesday release, with 32 rated critical and 166 rated as important. Our counts omitted 6 CVEs that were already addressed by Microsoft via servicing and do not require additional customer action to resolve as well as 2 CVEs that were disclosed by other CNAs (CVE-2025-10263 and CVE-2026-8863). This Patch Tuesday release is the largest release since the Patch Tuesday program began, smashing the previous record of 167...

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

09 Jun 2026
KEV confirmed by Tenable Blog

Exploitation attested by an external source
02 Jun 2026
Added to CISA KEV

Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
01 Jun 2026
Added to KEV Intelligence KEV Feed

High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation
20 May 2026
CVE published

Vulnerability disclosed publicly
16 Apr 2026
CVE ID reserved

Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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Evidence confidence and provenance
First-party sensor telemetry
PoC and scanner references
Affected versions and enrichment
Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2026-41091

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields

{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2026-41091",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 7.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.09641,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

CVE-2026-41091

What security teams need to know first

Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Tags

CVE References

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Exploited in the wild

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Observed signals

Scanner coverage

Virtual patch status

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

Weaknesses

Patch Tuesday - June 2026

All Mentions

From disclosure to observed exploitation

KEV confirmed by Tenable Blog

Added to CISA KEV

Added to KEV Intelligence KEV Feed

CVE published

CVE ID reserved

Automate this intelligence

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