Would it work in this non-TPM password only setup??

[kartik01001]

OS: Windows 11 26H1 28000.2113

tested this in vmware and was unable to trigger the exploit, any recommendations?? or this is purely TPM??

[HenkPoley]

When you use the TPM Key Protector, BitLocker will automatically unlock when you start WinRE. YellowKey tricks WinRE in booting to cmd.exe instead of something with a username and password prompt.

In your situation there is no auto unlock of BitLocker that an attacker might abuse.