SB2026021960 - Two privilege escalation vulnerabilities in Splunk Enterprise for Windows

Description

This security bulletin contains information about 2 vulnerabilities.

1) Insecure DLL loading (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-20140)

CWE-ID: CWE-427 - Uncontrolled Search Path Element

CVSSv4: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to the application loads DLL libraries in an insecure manner. A local user who can create a directory on the system drive where Splunk Enterprise is installed and write a malicious DLL into that directory can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. 

The vulnerability affects Windows installations only.

2) Untrusted search path (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-20143)

CWE-ID: CWE-426 - Untrusted Search Path

CVSSv4: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Clear

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to usage of an untrusted search path. A local user that can create a directory on the system drive where Splunk Enterprise is installed can write a malicious Python script into that directory and execute it with elevated privileges. 

The vulnerability affects Windows installations only.

Remediation

Install update from vendor's website.

References

• https://advisory.splunk.com/advisories/SVD-2026-0205
• https://advisory.splunk.com/advisories/SVD-2026-0208