SB2026101403 - Multiple vulnerabilities in Visual Studio Code
Published: October 14, 2026
Breakdown by Severity
- Low
- Medium
- High
- Critical
Description
This security bulletin contains information about 10 vulnerabilities.
1) Path traversal (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102229)
CWE-ID: CWE-22 - Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVSSv4: 6.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote user to read local files.
The vulnerability exists due to path traversal in Visual Studio Code when resolving pathnames. A remote user can exploit path traversal to escape the sandbox to read local files.
Exploitation requires user interaction.
2) Improper Resolution of Path Equivalence (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102231)
CWE-ID: CWE-41 - Improper Resolution of Path Equivalence
CVSSv4: 7.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to bypass Workspace Trust and execute commands or code from an untrusted workspace without the user first granting trust.
The vulnerability exists due to improper resolution of path equivalence in the Visual Studio Code Workspace Trust feature when resolving workspace paths. A remote attacker can manipulate system components to trigger a specific path-equivalence condition to bypass Workspace Trust and execute commands or code from an untrusted workspace without the user first granting trust.
User interaction is required. Successful exploitation depends on environmental conditions and system configuration and is not guaranteed.
3) Incorrect authorization (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102232)
CWE-ID: CWE-863 - Incorrect Authorization
CVSSv4: 7.1 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to bypass a security feature and execute commands in the context of the user.
The vulnerability exists due to incorrect authorization in Visual Studio Code's AI coding agent when processing attacker-controlled content. A remote attacker can supply specially crafted content that causes a configured lifecycle-hook file to be modified without the expected confirmation to bypass a security feature and execute commands in the context of the user.
User interaction is required to run the agent. Exploitation requires multiple steps involving prompt injection, Copilot Agent interaction, and triggering a build.
4) Missing Authorization (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102233)
CWE-ID: CWE-862 - Missing Authorization
CVSSv4: 8.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to bypass the Workspace Trust security feature.
The vulnerability exists due to missing authorization in the Visual Studio Code Workspace Trust feature when processing untrusted workspace content locally. A remote attacker can cause untrusted workspace content to run commands or code without the user first granting trust to bypass the Workspace Trust security feature.
Exploitation requires user interaction.
5) Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102234)
CWE-ID: CWE-807 - Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision
CVSSv4: 6.9 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to bypass the Visual Studio Code Workspace Trust feature.
The vulnerability exists due to reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision in the Workspace Trust feature when evaluating untrusted workspace content. A remote attacker can supply untrusted inputs over a network to bypass the Workspace Trust feature.
User interaction is required.
6) Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102235)
CWE-ID: CWE-116 - Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output
CVSSv4: 8.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.
The vulnerability exists due to improper encoding or escaping of output in the Visual Studio Code integrated terminal when displaying specially crafted content. A remote attacker can cause specially crafted content to appear in the integrated terminal to execute arbitrary code.
Exploitation requires the user to click the resulting notification link. Commands execute in that user's context.
7) Path traversal (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102238)
CWE-ID: CWE-22 - Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVSSv4: 8.6 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute code.
The vulnerability exists due to path traversal in Visual Studio Code's path-containment checks when importing profiles or opening content or links. A remote attacker can convince a user to import a specially crafted profile or open specially crafted content or links to execute code.
Successful exploitation allows access outside intended locations, with code execution occurring in the context of the interacting user.
8) Incorrect Privilege Assignment (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-102851)
CWE-ID: CWE-266 - Incorrect Privilege Assignment
CVSSv4: 5.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a local user to bypass the per-server sandbox policy.
The vulnerability exists due to incorrect privilege assignment in Visual Studio Code's sandboxed MCP server feature when running an attacker-controlled sandboxed server alongside another sandboxed server. A local user can convince a user to add and start a specially crafted server that writes into the other server's directory to bypass the per-server sandbox policy.
Successful exploitation requires specific conditions, such as particular protocol settings or configurations.
9) Command injection (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-69370)
CWE-ID: CWE-77 - Command injection
CVSSv4: 8.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.
The vulnerability exists due to command injection in Visual Studio Code when opening a specially crafted file. A remote attacker can trick a user into opening an attacker-supplied file to execute arbitrary code.
10) Missing Authorization (CVE-ID: CVE-2026-70098)
CWE-ID: CWE-862 - Missing Authorization
CVSSv4: 8.4 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code.
The vulnerability exists due to missing authorization in Visual Studio Code Workspace Trust protections when opening a specially crafted workspace. A remote attacker can convince a user to open a specially crafted workspace to execute arbitrary code in the context of the user.
The user does not need to grant trust to the workspace for exploitation to succeed.
Remediation
Install update from vendor's website.
References
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102229
- https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_141
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102231
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102232
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102233
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102234
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102235
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102238
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-102851
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-69370
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2026-70098