Local Privilege Escalation in NI-PAL Kernel Driver by National Instruments
CVE-2026-18485

8.5HIGH

Key Information:

Vendor

Ni

Status
Ni-pal
Vendor
CVE Published:
5 August 2026

What is CVE-2026-18485?

A newly identified local privilege escalation vulnerability in the NI-PAL kernel driver could potentially allow authenticated users to gain elevated privileges, enabling them to execute arbitrary code within the system. This affects NI-PAL version 26.3.1 and previous releases on Microsoft Windows platforms. Immediate attention is advised to mitigate risks associated with this issue.

Affected Version(s)

NI-PAL Windows 0 <= 26.3.1

References

https://www.ni.com/en/support/security/available-critical...

CVSS V4

Score:
8.5
Severity:
HIGH
Confidentiality:
High
Integrity:
High
Availability:
High
Attack Vector:
Local
Attack Complexity:
Low
Attack Required:
None
Privileges Required:
Undefined
User Interaction:
None

Timeline

  • Vulnerability published

  • Vulnerability Reserved

Credit

AO031
.