External risk intelligence

NFC Event Spoofing Leading to Privilege Escalation

CVE advisorySeverity: CRITICAL (CVSS 10.0)

CVE-2026-0081

A vulnerability in NFC technology allows an attacker to spoof NFC events due to a missing permission check, potentially leading to local privilege escalation. This could impact system integrity and availability. The relevance and exposure of affected systems need to be confirmed.

Halo Surface Signal

Very unlikely · external exposure

1Halo Surface Signal

The vulnerability involves NFC (Near Field Communication), a short-range wireless technology that requires physical proximity to the device. It is not reachable over the public internet, making its exposure to remote network-based attack vectors effectively non-existent in common deployments.

Horizon Alert

Summary of the vulnerability and why it matters

A critical vulnerability has been identified in NFC technology that could allow unauthorized privilege escalation without needing advanced privileges or user interaction. This issue stems from a missing permission check within the NFC system. The main concern is confirming relevance and exposure.

  • Spoofed NFC events could escalate privileges.
  • It is a critical security flaw impacting NFC.
  • Assess and confirm if our systems are affected.

Attack Path

How an attacker could exploit the issue

An attacker could spoof an NFC event by exploiting a missing permission check within the NFC component. This could allow them to gain local privilege escalation without needing any additional execution privileges. User interaction is not required for this to occur.

  • Missing permission check allows spoofing.
  • Local privilege escalation possible.
  • No user interaction needed.

Live Threat

Current exploitation, exposure, and threat context

A missing permission check in NFC could allow an attacker to spoof an NFC event, potentially leading to local privilege escalation without requiring user interaction or additional execution privileges. This could affect the integrity and availability of system services.

  • System data and services.
  • Spoofed NFC events could be triggered.
  • Local privilege escalation could occur.

Operational Fix

Recommended remediation, mitigation, and detection steps

This critical vulnerability in NFC could allow local privilege escalation without user interaction or additional privileges. Owners of systems with NFC-enabled devices should prioritize identifying affected assets, assessing their business criticality and exposure, and confirming accountability before planning remediation.

  • Ownership: Platform and Device Owners
  • Verify first: Identify and inventory affected devices.
  • Next action: Plan and coordinate remediation.

Supplementary metadata

PCI scan relevance

Yes

CVE-2026-0081 — Halo PCI Relevance: Yes. Under typical PCI ASV external scan criteria, this issue may be flagged for scan prioritization.

This NFC vulnerability could allow an attacker to spoof an NFC event, potentially leading to privilege escalation without user interaction, which could cause a PCI ASV scan failure.

Scan-prioritization guidance only—not a PCI DSS certification or ASV attestation.

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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Frequently asked questions

What is the NFC component affected by CVE-2026-0081?

NFC, or Near Field Communication, is a wireless technology used for short-range data exchange between devices. It is commonly found in smartphones and tablets, enabling features like contactless payments, digital key sharing, and rapid pairing with peripherals. In this context, the flaw resides within the system software responsible for processing these wireless communication events.

How does this missing permission check enable CVE-2026-0081?

This vulnerability is classified as CWE-862, which refers to a Missing Authorization flaw. Essentially, the software fails to verify if a process has the proper authority to trigger an NFC event. Because this security gate is skipped, an unauthorized process can imitate a legitimate NFC signal, allowing it to perform actions or gain access that should have been restricted, resulting in an escalation of privileges.

Do I need to interact with a malicious tag to trigger this bug?

No, user interaction is not required to trigger this vulnerability. The flaw exists in the underlying system logic, meaning it does not rely on a user physically tapping a tag or responding to a prompt. It is important to note that while it can be triggered without user action, successful exploitation still requires proximity to the device due to the nature of NFC communication hardware.

Is my device vulnerable if it is not exposed to the internet?

While Halo Surface Signal identifies this as an external classification, it also notes that NFC vulnerabilities are effectively non-existent over the public internet because they require physical proximity. Being offline does not necessarily remove the risk, as the threat relies on local access to the device rather than network reachability.

What are the first steps to address CVE-2026-0081?

Your first priority is to conduct an inventory of NFC-enabled devices within your environment to understand your total footprint. Once you have identified these assets, assess the business criticality of each to determine which systems require the most immediate attention. Coordinate with the relevant device or platform owners to ensure you are prepared to apply updates or patches as they become available from the manufacturer.

References

Sources and related resources

Primary sources: NVD, CVE.org.

NVDPublished