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Medium

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

  • Disclosed: 17.04.2026
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 10:22

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.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
npm package @anthropic-ai/claude-code < 2.1.75 2.1.75

References

CVSS score 7.3/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-426
Platform
npm
Package
@anthropic-ai/claude-code
Disclosed
17.04.2026
Updated
11.10.2026 10:22

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-5cwg-9f6j-9jvx - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: @anthropic-ai/claude-code

All published vulnerabilities of this package (npm package), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (29) in the archive
Total entries
29
First → latest
06.2025 10.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • High 23
  • Medium 4
  • Low 2

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. Claude Code: Plugin Hash Pin Bypass Allows Bypass of Hash Pinning
    High CVE-2026-86063 < 2.1.179 2.1.179
  2. Claude Code: Sandbox Escape via Git Worktree Path Confusion Allows Unsandboxed Code Execution
    High CVE-2026-55607 >= 2.1.38, < 2.1.163 2.1.163
  3. Claude Code: Trust Dialog Bypass via Git Worktree Spoofing Allows Arbitrary Code Execution
    High CVE-2026-40068 >= 2.1.63, < 2.1.84 2.1.84
  4. Claude Code: Sandbox Escape via Symlink Following Allows Arbitrary File Write Outside Workspace
    High · 10.0 CVE-2026-39861 < 2.1.64 2.1.64
  5. Claude Code: Insecure System-Wide Configuration Loading Enables Local Privilege Escalation on Windows this entry
    Medium · 7.3 CVE-2026-35603 < 2.1.75 2.1.75
  6. Claude Code has a Workspace Trust Dialog Bypass via Repo-Controlled Settings File
    High CVE-2026-33068 < 2.1.53 2.1.53
  7. Claude Code has Sandbox Escape via Persistent Configuration Injection in settings.json
    High CVE-2026-25725 < 2.1.2 2.1.2
  8. Claude Code Vulnerable to Command Injection via Piped sed Command Bypasses File Write Restrictions
    High CVE-2026-25723 < 2.0.55 2.0.55
  9. Claude Code Vulnerable to Command Injection via Directory Change Bypasses Write Protection
    High CVE-2026-25722 < 2.0.57 2.0.57
  10. Claude Code has a Command Injection in find Command Bypasses User Approval Prompt
    High CVE-2026-24887 < 2.0.72 2.0.72
  11. Claude Code has a Path Restriction Bypass via ZSH Clobber which Allows Arbitrary File Writes
    High CVE-2026-24053 < 2.0.74 2.0.74
  12. Claude Code has a Domain Validation Bypass which Allows Automatic Requests to Attacker-Controlled Domains
    High CVE-2026-24052 < 1.0.111 1.0.111
  13. Claude Code Command Validation Bypass Allows Arbitrary Code Execution
    High CVE-2025-66032 < 1.0.93 1.0.93
  14. @anthropic-ai/claude-code has Sed Command Validation Bypass that Allows Arbitrary File Writes
    High CVE-2025-64755 < 2.0.31 2.0.31
  15. Claude Code vulnerable to command execution prior to startup trust dialog
    High CVE-2025-65099 < 1.0.39 1.0.39
  16. Claude Code can execute commands prior to the startup trust dialog
    High CVE-2025-59536 < 1.0.111 1.0.111
  17. Claude Code Vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Execution via Plugin Autoloading with Specific Yarn Versions
    High CVE-2025-59828 < 1.0.39 1.0.39
  18. Claude Code vulnerable to arbitrary code execution caused by maliciously configured git email
    High CVE-2025-59041 < 1.0.105 1.0.105
  19. Claude Code rg vulnerability does not protect against approval prompt bypass
    High CVE-2025-58764 < 1.0.105 1.0.105
  20. Claude Code Vulnerable to Arbitrary Code Execution Due to Insufficient Startup Warning
    High ghsa-ph6w-f82w-28w6 < 1.0.87 1.0.87
  21. Claude Code's Permissive Default Allowlist Enables Unauthorized File Read and Network Exfiltration in Claude Code
    High CVE-2025-55284 < 1.0.4 1.0.4
  22. Claude Code echo command allowed bypass of user approval prompt for command execution
    High CVE-2025-54795 < 1.0.20 1.0.20
  23. Claude Code Research Preview has a Path Restriction Bypass which could allow unauthorized file access
    High CVE-2025-54794 < 0.2.111 0.2.111
  24. Claude Code Improper Authorization via websocket connections from arbitrary origins
    High CVE-2025-52882 >= 0.2.116, < 1.0.24 1.0.24

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