CVE-2026-35603 json
Claude Code: Insecure System-Wide Configuration Loading Enables Local Privilege Escalation on Windows
published 2026-04-17 6 mo ago modified 2026-10-26 13 d ago also EUVD-2026-23520 , GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx
- cvss
- 7.3
- version 3.1, NVD
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.1%
- EPSS 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 1%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
Claude Code is an agentic coding tool. In versions prior to 2.1.75 on Windows, Claude Code loaded the system-wide default configuration from C:\ProgramData\ClaudeCode\managed-settings.json without validating directory ownership or access permissions. Because the ProgramData directory is writable by non-administrative users by default and the ClaudeCode subdirectory was not pre-created or access-restricted, a low-privileged local user could create this directory and place a malicious configuration file that would be automatically loaded for any user launching Claude Code on the same machine. Exploiting this would have required a shared multi-user Windows system and a victim user to launch Claude Code after the malicious configuration was placed. This issue has been fixed on version 2.1.75.
Patch / fix
- npm @anthropic-ai/claude-code 2.1.75
- anthropic claude_code 2.1.75
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
- Assessed
- 6 mo ago
Exploit prediction
0.11% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 1% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 4.0 | 5.4 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| GitHub | 3.1 | 7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| CNA | 4.0 | 5.4 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
| NVD | 3.1 | 7.3 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
Affected packages
| ecosystem | package | affected | fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | @anthropic-ai/claude-code | <2.1.75 |
2.1.75 |
Affected products
- anthropics claude-code
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-426 Untrusted Search Path
References
-
github.com
/anthropics/claude-code/security/advisories/GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx
web, vendor-advisory
-
nvd.nist.gov
/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35603
advisory
-
github.com
/anthropics/claude-code
package
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-35603
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx
- NVD CVE-2026-35603
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.
CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.