Summary
Impact: Security Feature Bypass. Microsoft rating: Important. Not known to be exploited, publicly disclosed before the fix — Exploitation Less Likely. Customer action: Required.
Details
What kind of security feature could be bypassed by successfully exploiting this vulnerability?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could bypass Secure Boot.
Where can I find more information about Windows Secure Boot certificate expiration?
To understand more about Windows Secure Boot and the importance of taking immediate action to renew your certificates see Windows Secure Boot certificate expiration and CA updates.
See also the following links for the actions you need to take based on your Windows device:
Windows devices for home users, businesses, and schools with Microsoft-managed updates, Windows devices with IT-managed updates, Secure Boot FAQs can be found here: Secure Boot FAQs
According to the CVSS metric, the attack complexity is high (AC:H). What does that mean for this vulnerability?
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to have a deep understanding of the system and the ability to manipulate its components to trigger a specific condition. Successful exploitation is not guaranteed and depends on a combination of factors that may include the environment, system configuration, and the presence of additional security measures.
Security updates
10.0.17763.8276 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073723
10.0.20348.4648 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073457
10.0.19044.6809 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073724
10.0.26100.32230 — https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/a6021fd2-b3b7-45a7-b68e-35c28a2a77da
10.0.26200.7623 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5074109
10.0.22631.6491 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073455
10.0.25398.2092 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073450
10.0.14393.8783 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073722
6.2.9200.25868 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073698
6.3.9600.22968 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073696
Vulnerabilities 1
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Medium 6.4
Secure Boot Certificate Expiration Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
Windows Secure Boot stores Microsoft certificates in the UEFI KEK and DB. These original certificates are approaching expiration, and devices containing affected certificate versions must update them to maintain Secure Boot functionality and avoid compromisin…
Revision history
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#1
Information published.
References
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CVE-2026-21265 Secure Boot Certificate Expiration Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability - HTML
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21265
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Microsoft Exploitability Index
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/exploitability-index?rtc=1
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Microsoft Support Lifecycle
https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle
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Common Vulnerability Scoring System
https://www.first.org/cvss