Link following in Claude Desktop - CVE-2026-44470
Published: May 7, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU130445
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4.0: 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
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-44470
CWE-ID: CWE-59
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vendor: Anthropic
Affected software:
Claude Desktop
Claude Desktop
Detailed vulnerability description
The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges.
The vulnerability exists due to improper link resolution before file access in CoworkVMService when creating files within the VM bundle directory. A local user can replace the user-writable VM bundle directory with a directory junction pointing to an attacker-chosen location to escalate privileges.
The issue affects Claude Desktop for Windows because the service runs as SYSTEM and may create a SYSTEM-owned file in an arbitrary directory.
How to mitigate CVE-2026-44470
Install security update from vendor's website.