Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-5CWG-9F6J-9JVX

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-04-17 22:19 – Updated: 2026-04-17 22:19

Summary

Claude Code: Insecure System-Wide Configuration Loading Enables Local Privilege Escalation on Windows

Details

On Windows, Claude Code loaded 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.

Users on standard Claude Code auto-update have received this fix already. Users performing manual updates are advised to update to the latest version.

Thank you to hackerone.com/edbr for reporting this issue.

Severity ?

5.4 (Medium)


                  
                    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

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{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "@anthropic-ai/claude-code"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2.1.75"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-35603"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-426"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-04-17T22:19:38Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-04-17T21:16:33Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "On Windows, Claude Code loaded 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.\n\nUsers on standard Claude Code auto-update have received this fix already. Users performing manual updates are advised to update to the latest version.\n\nThank you to hackerone.com/edbr for reporting this issue.",
  "id": "GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx",
  "modified": "2026-04-17T22:19:38Z",
  "published": "2026-04-17T22:19:38Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/security/advisories/GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35603"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "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",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "Claude Code: Insecure System-Wide Configuration Loading Enables Local Privilege Escalation on Windows"
}

CVE-2026-35603 (GCVE-0-2026-35603)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-04-17 20:38 – Updated: 2026-04-20 14:57

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 ?

5.4 (Medium)


                        
                          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

CWE

CWE-426 - Untrusted Search Path

Assigner

GitHub_M

References

URL

Tags

https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/securit…

x_refsource_CONFIRM

Impacted products

	Vendor	Product	Version
	anthropics	claude-code	Affected: < 2.1.75

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{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-35603",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "total"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-04-20T14:52:20.978519Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-04-20T14:57:47.669Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "product": "claude-code",
          "vendor": "anthropics",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "\u003c 2.1.75"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "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": "2026-04-20T14:57:47.669Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

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.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

Action not permitted

GHSA-5CWG-9F6J-9JVX

CVE-2026-35603 (GCVE-0-2026-35603)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature