CVE-2026-50430

What it actually does

This is a local information disclosure vulnerability in Windows Push Notifications. An authenticated local attacker with low privileges could access sensitive notification-related data that should not be exposed to that user context. The flaw affects confidentiality only: it does not directly provide remote code execution, privilege escalation, data modification, or denial of service, but the disclosed information may include notification content, tokens, metadata, or other locally stored push-notification artifacts depending on application usage and system configuration.

Why it matters to the business

Organizations using affected Windows desktop and server versions may be exposed to leakage of sensitive information from local systems, especially on shared workstations, virtual desktops, jump hosts, kiosks, or systems where multiple users or applications operate on the same host. While the vulnerability requires local authenticated access and is not currently listed in CISA KEV or associated with ransomware campaigns, it affects a broad range of supported Windows versions and could help attackers collect information useful for account takeover, reconnaissance, or follow-on attacks.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker first obtains the ability to run code or commands as a low-privileged local user on an affected Windows system. The attacker then targets Windows Push Notifications components or locally stored notification data and takes advantage of improper information exposure to read data outside the intended authorization boundary. The attacker may review cached notification content, application notification metadata, or related push-notification artifacts for sensitive information such as message previews, account identifiers, session context, internal URLs, or operational details. The stolen information can then be used to guide lateral movement, social engineering, credential-targeting, or further compromise, even though the vulnerability itself does not grant higher privileges or remote execution.

How to fix it

Apply the Microsoft security update that remediates this vulnerability for all affected Windows versions as soon as it is available through Windows Update, Microsoft Update Catalog, WSUS, Intune, or other enterprise patch-management tooling. Affected products include Windows 10 1607, 1809, 21H2, and 22H2; Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1; Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2025. No exact fixed build numbers were provided in the input, so remediation should be validated against Microsoft’s official release notes and vulnerability guidance. Until patching is complete, reduce exposure by limiting local interactive access, restricting untrusted code execution with WDAC or AppLocker, minimizing sensitive data displayed in notifications, disabling or restricting push notifications on high-sensitivity systems where operationally feasible, and monitoring for suspicious access to notification-related stores and services.

How to confirm the fix worked

Confirm that affected Windows systems have received the Microsoft security update that addresses this vulnerability by checking Windows Update history, WSUS or Intune compliance, vulnerability scanner results, and OS build or cumulative update levels against Microsoft’s official fixed-version guidance. Validate that endpoint security controls prevent low-privileged users from accessing notification data belonging to other users or protected application contexts. On representative systems, review permissions around notification storage paths and confirm that unprivileged accounts cannot read another user’s notification database or push-notification artifacts. Re-scan managed assets after patch deployment to ensure the vulnerability is no longer reported.

Typical attack path

1. Gain local authenticated access to an affected Windows endpoint or server through malware, stolen credentials, insider access, or another vulnerability.
2. Enumerate Windows Push Notifications services, user notification storage, and application notification artifacts available on the system.
3. Exploit the information disclosure weakness to read notification-related data that should not be accessible to the attacker’s user context.
4. Extract sensitive notification content, tokens, account metadata, application identifiers, or operational details if present.
5. Use the disclosed information for reconnaissance, phishing, credential targeting, or planning additional attacks.

How to detect it

Detection should focus on evidence that a local user or process accessed notification-related artifacts abnormally. Review Windows Security logs for unusual local or remote interactive logons followed by file access, process execution, or scripting activity. Useful sources include Windows Security events such as 4624, 4672, 4688, 4663 if object access auditing is enabled, PowerShell Operational logs, Sysmon process and file events, EDR telemetry, and Windows Push Notifications related operational logs where available. Investigate unexpected access to user notification databases under user profiles, unusual use of PowerShell, cmd.exe, rundll32.exe, reg.exe, sqlite tools, or custom binaries reading notification storage, and activity by accounts that should not interactively access the system. Because no public exploit indicators or tool-specific artifacts are provided, absence of these events does not prove non-exploitation; prioritize correlation of suspicious local access with reads of notification files and subsequent data staging or exfiltration.

What your security team should do

• Prioritize patching shared-user systems, VDI hosts, kiosks, jump boxes, administrative workstations, and endpoints used for sensitive workflows.
• Use enterprise patch management to identify all affected Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server systems and track remediation to completion.
• Reduce sensitive information shown in desktop notifications, especially for email, messaging, identity, ticketing, monitoring, and administrative applications.
• Restrict local logon rights and remove unnecessary standard-user access from servers and high-value workstations.
• Enforce application control and endpoint protection to reduce the chance that a low-privileged attacker can execute local collection tooling.
• Monitor for unusual access to Windows notification databases, notification service artifacts, and user profile notification storage.
• Because this is not currently KEV-listed and has no known public exploit maturity in the input, treat it as moderate urgency overall but high priority where notification content may expose credentials, tokens, regulated data, or internal operational information.