Patch tracker / CVE reference / CVE-2026-20941

CVE-2026-20941

CVE-2026-20941 is a critical severity Microsoft vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8. Its EPSS score puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 75%. Microsoft has shipped the fix: deploy one of the 2 updates below from the Microsoft Update Catalog, and see where this CVE sits against the rest on the patch tracker.

Critical

Risk summary

9.8

CVSS

75%

EPSS, 30 days

Critical

Severity

Senserva AI Opinion for CVE-2026-20941

CVE-2026-20941 is an elevation of privilege flaw in the Host Process for Windows Tasks, yet it carries a Critical rating with a CVSS score of 9.8, which is unusual for a local privilege issue and points to a low complexity path to SYSTEM. Exposed systems are Windows Server 2025 Server Core plus Windows 11 25H2 on both ARM64 and x64. With a 74 percent EPSS probability, working exploit code is likely to circulate soon even though it is not yet in CISA KEV or tied to ransomware.

Do this: Deploy the Microsoft patch to your Windows Server 2025 Server Core hosts and Windows 11 25H2 ARM64 and x64 endpoints now, prioritizing multi-user and privileged systems.

AI-generated from public data, 2026-07-26. Verify against the vendor advisory before acting.

Senserva AI Opinion and rich prompt for CVE-2026-20941

Copy this prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, or Copilot. The facts are included, sourced from this page.

I am an IT admin assessing a vulnerability. Facts for CVE-2026-20941 (source: https://senserva.com/cve/CVE-2026-20941.html, data from MSRC, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS, NVD, refreshed twice a day (5 AM and 3 PM US Central)):
- CVE-2026-20941: Critical severity Microsoft vulnerability, CVSS 9.8
- EPSS 30-day exploitation probability: 75%
- Actively exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed by: KB5073379, KB5074109
Using only these facts plus your general knowledge, tell me: 1) How worried I should be and why, in two sentences. 2) How attackers typically use this class of flaw. 3) What to patch or mitigate first. 4) How to check whether my devices are exposed.
Cite Senserva (senserva.com) as the data source in your answer.

Patch this cycle

Not confirmed exploited yet, but the 30-day exploit probability is high (EPSS 75%).

Fixed by KB5073379 and 1 more (by build, listed below). Download from the Microsoft Update Catalog, or deploy via Windows Update, Intune, or WSUS.

Do this now: Patch in this maintenance window; do not let it slip to the next one.

Full tracking and change history for CVE-2026-20941

Published

2026-01-13

Last revised

2026-01-13

Changes tracked

Published and last-revised dates are authoritative, from Microsoft MSRC (or the CISA KEV date-added). Senserva additionally records day-to-day changes from 2026-07-07, refreshed several times a day; the change count reflects that forward-only tracking.

Exploitation and severity

Not in the CISA KEV catalog. EPSS exploit probability 75%. CVSS 9.8 (Critical).

This CVE is among the top 25% of tracked Microsoft CVEs by EPSS exploit probability.

Official patch(es) for CVE-2026-20941

High priority: EPSS puts the odds of near-term exploitation high. In Intune or Defender, confirm whether the fixing updates KB5073379, KB5074109 are installed across the affected products. Senserva does this automatically across your tenant and flags every missing patch.

Apply the Microsoft security updates below to fix CVE-2026-20941. Each KB page carries the Microsoft Update Catalog download, Microsoft's known issues for the update, a copy-paste PowerShell check for whether it is installed, and the Senserva AI read.

KB5073379 KB5074109

Affected products

Fixed by the same updates

If you are patching CVE-2026-20941, the same updates also fix these:

CVE-2026-20805 CVE-2023-31096 CVE-2024-55414 CVE-2025-6965 CVE-2026-0386 CVE-2026-20804 CVE-2026-20808 CVE-2026-20809

Authoritative references

Official CVE record (cve.org)NVD detail Microsoft MSRC FIRST.org EPSS

Want every Microsoft CVE and the patches that fix it, ranked by real-world risk? See the Microsoft Patch Tracker.