CVE-2026-81379: CWE-636: Not Failing Securely ('Failing Open') in Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Description
Not failing securely ('failing open') in Visual Studio Code allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network.
CVSS v3.1
Score 8.2high
Affected software
Microsoft
Visual Studio Code
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Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability, identified as CWE-636 (Not Failing Securely), exists in Microsoft Visual Studio Code. It allows an attacker without privileges to bypass a security feature remotely due to the application failing open rather than securely. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 8.2, indicating high severity, with network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, user interaction required, scope changed, high confidentiality impact, low integrity impact, and no availability impact. Microsoft has published an official fix for this issue.
Potential Impact
An unauthorized attacker can bypass a security feature in Visual Studio Code remotely, potentially leading to a compromise of confidential information. The integrity impact is low, and availability is not affected. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.
Mitigation Recommendations
An official fix is available from Microsoft. Users should apply the update to Visual Studio Code version 1.136.2 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Refer to the Microsoft Security Response Center advisory for detailed patch information.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- microsoft
- Date Reserved
- 2026-08-26T18:46:26.214Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- official-fix
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-81379","vendor":"Microsoft"}]
Threat ID: 6aa0456dacd9273b49fafefa
Added to database: 09/08/2026, 17:27:09 UTC
Last enriched: 10/14/2026, 22:06:34 UTC
Last updated: 10/23/2026, 15:10:15 UTC
Views: 49
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