Executive brief
A security vulnerability has been identified in Visual Studio Code, a widely used code editor for software development. An unauthorized attacker could exploit this flaw to gain elevated permissions on a target system over a network. This could allow an attacker to perform actions with higher authority than intended, potentially compromising sensitive source code or development environments.
Technical details
A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Microsoft Visual Studio Code due to improper input validation (CWE-20). The vulnerability can be exploited over a network by an unauthenticated attacker, though the attack complexity is rated as high and requires user interaction. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to elevate their privileges on the affected system. Microsoft has released information regarding this vulnerability under CVE-2026-40376, and users are advised to consult the Microsoft Security Update Guide for patching information.
Affected products
- Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Timeline
- 2026-06-09: disclosed: Initial publication of the CVE record.
- 2026-06-09: advisory: Microsoft released the security advisory.