CVE-2026-41091
Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Microsoft Defender Link Following Vulnerability is confirmed as actively exploited and is listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Required action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA notes
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2026-41091 ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41091
Description
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Microsoft Defender allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Severity
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:CAffected Products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Microsoft Malware Protection Engine | 1.1.0.0 to <1.1.26040.8 |
References
1 LinksRecord Details
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Related Tool Categories
Tool categories that test for or protect against this vulnerability class.
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