CVE-2026-21256: CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') in Microsoft Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14
Improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-21256) involves improper neutralization of special elements used in commands (CWE-77) within Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14, including GitHub Copilot integration. The weakness enables remote code execution by an unauthorized attacker due to insufficient input sanitization in command processing. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.8, reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Microsoft has published an official fix to remediate this issue.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code remotely without privileges, potentially leading to full system compromise including complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. This could impact development environments using Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14 with GitHub Copilot integration.
Mitigation Recommendations
An official fix is available from Microsoft. Users and administrators should apply the security update provided by Microsoft as detailed in the vendor advisory (https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21256) to remediate this vulnerability. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor.
CVE-2026-21256: CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') in Microsoft Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14
Description
Improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-21256) involves improper neutralization of special elements used in commands (CWE-77) within Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14, including GitHub Copilot integration. The weakness enables remote code execution by an unauthorized attacker due to insufficient input sanitization in command processing. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.8, reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Microsoft has published an official fix to remediate this issue.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code remotely without privileges, potentially leading to full system compromise including complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. This could impact development environments using Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14 with GitHub Copilot integration.
Mitigation Recommendations
An official fix is available from Microsoft. Users and administrators should apply the security update provided by Microsoft as detailed in the vendor advisory (https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21256) to remediate this vulnerability. No additional mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- microsoft
- Date Reserved
- 2025-12-11T21:02:05.737Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- official-fix
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-21256","vendor":"Microsoft"}]
Threat ID: 698b76014b57a58fa120a04d
Added to database: 2/10/2026, 6:16:33 PM
Last enriched: 5/12/2026, 5:13:18 AM
Last updated: 5/22/2026, 8:34:12 PM
Views: 109
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