CVE-2026-102851 in Visual Studio Code
Summary
by MITRE • 10/13/2026
Incorrect privilege assignment in Visual Studio Code allows an authorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/14/2026
The vulnerability identified as incorrect privilege assignment within Microsoft Visual Studio Code represents a significant local security flaw that undermines the intended isolation mechanisms of the application. This issue stems from improper handling of access control lists or permission settings during specific operations, allowing an authorized attacker to escalate privileges or bypass critical security features when operating on the same system. In modern software architecture, particularly for integrated development environments like Visual Studio Code, maintaining strict separation between user-level processes and elevated system tasks is paramount to preventing unauthorized modifications to files, registry keys, or environment variables. When this boundary is compromised due to misconfigured permissions, it creates a pathway for malicious actors who have already gained some level of access to the local machine to execute actions that should be restricted by default security policies.
From a technical perspective, this flaw likely involves scenarios where Visual Studio Code spawns child processes or interacts with system resources without correctly inheriting or enforcing restrictive permission sets. For instance, if an extension or internal component requests elevated privileges for a specific task but fails to validate the context in which that request is made, it may inadvertently grant broader access than necessary. This misalignment between requested and granted permissions allows an attacker who can influence these interactions—perhaps through malicious code injection into open projects or by exploiting other local vulnerabilities—to perform operations such as writing to protected directories, modifying system configurations, or executing arbitrary commands with higher privileges than intended. The core of the issue lies in the failure to apply the principle of least privilege consistently across all components and extensions within the IDE ecosystem.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for organizations relying on Visual Studio Code for secure software development. An attacker leveraging this flaw could compromise the integrity of the local development environment, potentially stealing sensitive source code, injecting malicious payloads into build pipelines, or using the compromised workstation as a pivot point to attack other systems within the network. Since Visual Studio Code is often used with extensions that interact deeply with the operating system and external tools, the ability to bypass security features locally can lead to full system compromise if combined with other local exploits. This undermines trust in the development toolchain and poses risks not only to individual developers but also to enterprise environments where code repositories contain proprietary intellectual property or sensitive customer data.
This vulnerability aligns closely with Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) category CWE-269, which addresses Improper Privilege Management, specifically regarding incorrect privilege assignment that allows unauthorized access. It also relates to ATT&CK technique T1055, Process Injection, and potentially T1068, Exploitation for Privilege Escalation, as the flaw enables an attacker to elevate their standing within the system by exploiting misconfigured permissions. To mitigate this risk, users should ensure they are running the latest version of Visual Studio Code where such permission handling has been corrected. Additionally, organizations should enforce strict application control policies and limit the execution rights of extensions that require elevated privileges. Regular auditing of installed extensions and disabling those from untrusted sources can further reduce the attack surface by minimizing opportunities for attackers to exploit these privilege assignment flaws through malicious code injection or manipulation of IDE processes.