CVE-2026-41091: CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') in Microsoft Microsoft Malware Protection Engine
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft Defender allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-41091 affects Microsoft Malware Protection Engine version 1.1.0.0. It is categorized under CWE-59, which involves improper link resolution before file access. This flaw enables an authorized attacker with local access to escalate their privileges by exploiting the way the engine resolves symbolic links or similar references before accessing files. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8, indicating a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Microsoft has published an official fix for this vulnerability, as detailed in their security update guide.
Potential Impact
An authorized local attacker can exploit this vulnerability to elevate their privileges on the affected system. This could lead to full compromise of the system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability as indicated by the CVSS score. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.
Mitigation Recommendations
An official fix is available from Microsoft for this vulnerability. Users and administrators should apply the security update provided by Microsoft as detailed in their advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41091 to remediate this issue.
CVE-2026-41091: CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') in Microsoft Microsoft Malware Protection Engine
Description
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft Defender allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.8high
Affected software
Microsoft
Microsoft Malware Protection Engine
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2026-41091 affects Microsoft Malware Protection Engine version 1.1.0.0. It is categorized under CWE-59, which involves improper link resolution before file access. This flaw enables an authorized attacker with local access to escalate their privileges by exploiting the way the engine resolves symbolic links or similar references before accessing files. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8, indicating a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Microsoft has published an official fix for this vulnerability, as detailed in their security update guide.
Potential Impact
An authorized local attacker can exploit this vulnerability to elevate their privileges on the affected system. This could lead to full compromise of the system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability as indicated by the CVSS score. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.
Mitigation Recommendations
An official fix is available from Microsoft for this vulnerability. Users and administrators should apply the security update provided by Microsoft as detailed in their advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41091 to remediate this issue.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- microsoft
- Date Reserved
- 2026-04-16T19:12:36.195Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- official-fix
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41091","vendor":"Microsoft"}]
Threat ID: 6a0db4daba1db473627ecd36
Added to database: 05/20/2026, 13:19:22 UTC
Last enriched: 08/11/2026, 16:51:17 UTC
Last updated: 09/14/2026, 22:01:34 UTC
Views: 133
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