CVE Intelligence
CISA KEV High Denial of service

CVE-2026-45498 — Microsoft Defender Denial of Service Vulnerability

Microsoft Defender Denial of Service Vulnerability

Published May 20, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: microsoft

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

How the score was calculated
  • Confirmed exploitation (CISA KEV)+35
  • Public exploit/PoC (github)+6
  • EPSS 1.3% (30-day exploitation probability)+10
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Confirmed
CISA KEV, listed May 20, 2026
EPSS FIRST
1.27%
ahead of 69% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Microsoft
Defender Antimalware Platform
CVSS base
7.5
High · 4 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Active
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

CISA required action CISA

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

US federal deadline: Jun 3, 2026 — passed 134 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Microsoft Defender Antimalware Platform).
  2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
  3. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  4. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  5. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (denial of service), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Microsoft Defender Antimalware Platform < 4.18.26040.7 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Microsoft Defender Antimalware Platform ≥ 4.0.0.0 and < 4.18.26040.7 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.5 CVSS 3.1 High 3.9 3.6 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
4.0 CVSS 3.1 Medium 2.5 1.4 secure@microsoft.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
4.0 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
4.0 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — microsoft via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Scoring entities (NIST, CNA, ADP) score independently; each score is shown with its origin. For prioritization we use 7.5 (NVD (NIST)) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

Listed
May 20, 2026
Federal deadline
Jun 3, 2026
passed 134 day(s) ago
Ransomware use
Unknown

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates

Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.

Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 12, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 1.27%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Track CPU/memory spikes and availability drops correlated with request patterns.
  • Hunt retroactively in logs from before May 20, 2026 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSresource metrics

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · microsoft/microsoft defender antimalware platform
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Affected products added · microsoft/defender antimalware platform
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 7.5
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Added to CISA KEV (detected)
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • CVE published
    May 20, 2026 · microsoft
  • Added to CISA KEV catalog
    May 19, 2026 · CISA

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

4 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Microsoft
every CVE for this vendor
2026-05
what else CISA listed that month
CWE-400
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • High CVE-2026-33825 Microsoft Defender Insufficient Granularity of Access Control Vulnerability KEV Apr 14, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-45498 is "Microsoft Defender Denial of Service Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Defender Antimalware Platform (Microsoft); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 7.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 1.27% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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