Microsoft Visual Studio Code: Elevation of privilege due to missing authentication
Summary
Missing authentication for a critical function in Visual Studio Code allows an authorized local attacker to elevate privileges. The attacker needs a local account or foothold on the system and no user interaction is required. Successful exploitation could impact confidentiality, integrity and availability of the affected system.
Affected
- Microsoft Visual Studio Code from 1.0.0 before 1.145.3
- Platforms and components: Unknown.
Fixed in
- Visual Studio Code 1.145.3 or later
Workaround
- Unknown. No CVE-specific workaround found. Apply the update.
Exploitation
- Exploited in the wild: No evidence found.
- CISA SSVC: Exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
- Public proof-of-concept: None found (search not exhaustive).
- CISA KEV: Not listed according to a tracker.
Our recommendation
- Update Visual Studio Code to version 1.145.3 or later and verify the installed version instead of relying on auto-update.
- Prioritise developer endpoints and shared or remote development hosts (remote agent hosts, Dev Containers, SSH workspaces).
- Restrict local accounts and administrative rights on these systems.
- Recheck the full MSRC advisory and NVD analysis for updates.
Information from Microsoft (Patch Tuesday November 2026)
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- CVE Record CVE-2026-119981 www.cve.org
- Microsoft Security Update Guide CVE-2026-119981 msrc.microsoft.com
- Visual Studio Code 1.145 release notes code.visualstudio.com
- Strix CVE-2026-119981 www.strix.ai
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 11 Nov 2026, 08:25.
Original description (NVD)
Missing authentication for critical function in Visual Studio Code allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
NVD references (1)
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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