VDB-345297 · CVE-2026-21523 · Nessus 298881

Microsoft Visual Studio Code toctou

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.8	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Microsoft Visual Studio Code. The impacted element is an unknown function. Performing a manipulation results in toctou. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-21523. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. It is suggested to install a patch to address this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Microsoft Visual Studio Code (affected version unknown). This affects an unknown functionality. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a toctou vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-367. The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check. This can cause the product to perform invalid actions when the resource is in an unexpected state. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio allows an authorized attacker to execute code over a network.

The weakness was disclosed 02/10/2026 as confirmed security update guide (Website). The advisory is shared at msrc.microsoft.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-21523. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/13/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 298881 (Security Update for Microsoft Visual Studio Code (February 2026)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (298881). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Programming Tool Software

Vendor

Microsoft

Name

Visual Studio Code

License

commercial

Website

Vendor: https://www.microsoft.com/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.8

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.5
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Vendor Base Score (Microsoft): 8.0
Vendor Vector (Microsoft): 🔒

CNA Base Score: 8.0
CNA Vector (Microsoft): 🔒

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Toctou
CWE: CWE-367 / CWE-362
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Unproven

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 298881
Nessus Name: Security Update for Microsoft Visual Studio Code (February 2026)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Patch
Status: 🔍

Reaction Time: 🔒
0-Day Time: 🔒
Exposure Time: 🔒

Timelineinfo

02/10/2026 VulDB entry created
02/10/2026 +0 days Advisory disclosed
02/10/2026 +0 days Countermeasure disclosed
02/13/2026 +2 days VulDB entry last update