CVE-2026-116638
Description
A flaw was found in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). An attacker with physical access or administrative privileges on a device can leverage WinRE boot mechanisms to bypass firmware security controls, such as administrator-configured UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) or BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) passwords. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to circumvent hardware-level protections and gain unauthorized access to system resources.
Statement
This vulnerability is rated as Important because successful exploitation allows a local operator with elevated privileges or direct device access to circumvent firmware-level controls, extending the blast radius beyond operating system boundaries. However, the flaw is specific to the proprietary Windows Recovery Environment. Red Hat Enterprise Linux and other Red Hat offerings do not package or utilize this recovery infrastructure, and Red Hat products are not affected.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Access Control
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
Frequently Asked Questions
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