CVE-2026-35603 (GCVE-0-2026-35603)
Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-04-17 20:38 – Updated: 2026-04-17 20:38
VLAI?
Title
Claude Code: Insecure System-Wide Configuration Loading Enables Local Privilege Escalation on Windows
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.
Severity ?
CWE
- CWE-426 - Untrusted Search Path
Assigner
References
| URL | Tags | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||
Impacted products
| Vendor | Product | Version | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| anthropics | claude-code |
Affected:
< 2.1.75
|
{
"containers": {
"cna": {
"affected": [
{
"product": "claude-code",
"vendor": "anthropics",
"versions": [
{
"status": "affected",
"version": "\u003c 2.1.75"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
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"lang": "en",
"value": "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."
}
],
"metrics": [
{
"cvssV4_0": {
"attackComplexity": "LOW",
"attackRequirements": "PRESENT",
"attackVector": "LOCAL",
"baseScore": 5.4,
"baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
"privilegesRequired": "LOW",
"subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
"subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
"subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
"userInteraction": "PASSIVE",
"vectorString": "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",
"version": "4.0",
"vulnAvailabilityImpact": "HIGH",
"vulnConfidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
"vulnIntegrityImpact": "HIGH"
}
}
],
"problemTypes": [
{
"descriptions": [
{
"cweId": "CWE-426",
"description": "CWE-426: Untrusted Search Path",
"lang": "en",
"type": "CWE"
}
]
}
],
"providerMetadata": {
"dateUpdated": "2026-04-17T20:38:49.901Z",
"orgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
"shortName": "GitHub_M"
},
"references": [
{
"name": "https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/security/advisories/GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx",
"tags": [
"x_refsource_CONFIRM"
],
"url": "https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/security/advisories/GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx"
}
],
"source": {
"advisory": "GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx",
"discovery": "UNKNOWN"
},
"title": "Claude Code: Insecure System-Wide Configuration Loading Enables Local Privilege Escalation on Windows"
}
},
"cveMetadata": {
"assignerOrgId": "a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa",
"assignerShortName": "GitHub_M",
"cveId": "CVE-2026-35603",
"datePublished": "2026-04-17T20:38:49.901Z",
"dateReserved": "2026-04-03T21:25:12.162Z",
"dateUpdated": "2026-04-17T20:38:49.901Z",
"state": "PUBLISHED"
},
"dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
"dataVersion": "5.2",
"vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
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}
}
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Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
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