CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-21265 — Windows Secure Boot stores Microsoft certificates in the UEFI KEK and DB

Medium CVSS 6.4

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 compromising security by losing security fixes related to Windows boot manager or Secure Boot. The operating system’s certificate update protection mechanism relies on firmware components that might contain defects, which can cause certificate trust updates to fail or behave unpredictably. This leads to potential disruption of the Secure Boot trust chain and requires careful validation and deployment to restore intended security guarantees. Certificate Authority (CA) Location Purpose Expiration Date Microsoft Corporation KEK CA 2011 KEK Signs updates to the DB and DBX 06/24/2026 Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011 DB Signs 3rd party boot loaders, Option ROMs, etc. 06/27/2026 Microsoft Windows Production PCA 2011 DB Signs the Windows Boot Manager 10/19/2026 For more information see this CVE and Windows Secure Boot certificate expiration and CA updates.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
6.4 (3.1)
Published
2026-01-13
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-1329

Affected products

  • microsoft / windows_10_1607
  • microsoft / windows_10_1809
  • microsoft / windows_10_21h2
  • microsoft / windows_10_22h2
  • microsoft / windows_11_23h2

Showing 5 representative product identities from 23 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

General vulnerability remediation

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Confirm the affected component, deployment paths, reachable interfaces, and enabled features from inventories and configuration, without probing production destructively.
  • Compare the advisory's affected conditions with the repository lockfiles, build manifests, artifacts, and runtime inventory.
  • Identify data sensitivity, trust boundaries, and privilege level for every confirmed affected deployment.

Remediate safely

  • Apply a vendor-supported fix or remove the affected component or feature; record the selected change and its source in the repository.
  • Update direct and transitive dependency locks, generated artifacts, deployment manifests, and asset inventories together.
  • Add a regression test for the documented unsafe condition using inert inputs and preserve rollback instructions.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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