CVE-2026-42902: CWE-285: Improper Authorization in Microsoft Microsoft PowerToys
Improper authorization in Microsoft PowerToys allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-42902 and classified under CWE-285 (Improper Authorization), exists in Microsoft PowerToys version 0.1. It allows an attacker with some level of authorization on the local system to escalate their privileges, potentially gaining higher-level access than intended. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8, indicating a high severity with impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Microsoft has published an official fix for this vulnerability, as confirmed by their advisory.
Potential Impact
An authorized local attacker can exploit this vulnerability to elevate their privileges, which could lead to full system compromise including unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification of system settings, or disruption of system availability.
Mitigation Recommendations
Microsoft has released an official fix for this vulnerability. Users and administrators should apply the patch provided by Microsoft as detailed in the vendor advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-42902 to remediate this issue.
CVE-2026-42902: CWE-285: Improper Authorization in Microsoft Microsoft PowerToys
Description
Improper authorization in Microsoft PowerToys allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.8high
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-42902 and classified under CWE-285 (Improper Authorization), exists in Microsoft PowerToys version 0.1. It allows an attacker with some level of authorization on the local system to escalate their privileges, potentially gaining higher-level access than intended. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8, indicating a high severity with impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Microsoft has published an official fix for this vulnerability, as confirmed by their advisory.
Potential Impact
An authorized local attacker can exploit this vulnerability to elevate their privileges, which could lead to full system compromise including unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification of system settings, or disruption of system availability.
Mitigation Recommendations
Microsoft has released an official fix for this vulnerability. Users and administrators should apply the patch provided by Microsoft as detailed in the vendor advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-42902 to remediate this issue.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- microsoft
- Date Reserved
- 2026-04-30T22:35:54.967Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- official-fix
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-42902","vendor":"Microsoft"}]
Threat ID: 6a284cc08dd33fbd856646d9
Added to database: 6/9/2026, 5:26:24 PM
Last enriched: 6/9/2026, 11:12:22 PM
Last updated: 6/10/2026, 6:21:59 AM
Views: 3
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