CVE-2026-118741: ASP.NET Core Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
CVE-2026-118741 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in ASP.NET Core, rated Important by Microsoft, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1 (High). An attacker can exploit it remotely over the network, without any privileges and without user interaction. Microsoft has not reported exploitation in the wild and rates exploitation as less likely. Microsoft released the fix on 10 November 2026 in the November 2026 Patch Tuesday. It affects 13 products in 2 product families (Other, Developer Tools).
Key facts
- CVE ID
- CVE-2026-118741
- Severity
- High CVSS 8.1
- Microsoft severity
- Important
- Impact
- Elevation of Privilege
- Exploited in the wild
- No
- Publicly disclosed
- No
- Exploitation likelihood
- Less Likely
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Released
- Last updated
- Patch Tuesday
- November 2026 Patch Tuesday
- Product families
- Other, Developer Tools
CVSS score and vector
Microsoft scores CVE-2026-118741 at 8.1 (temporal 7.1) using CVSS 3.1. Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack vector | Network |
| Attack complexity | High |
| Privileges required | None |
| User interaction | None |
| Scope | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality impact | High |
| Integrity impact | High |
| Availability impact | High |
| Exploit code maturity | Unproven |
| Remediation level | Official fix |
| Report confidence | Confirmed |
Description
Improper authentication in ASP.NET Core allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.
Frequently asked questions (Microsoft)
How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability?
An unauthenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a password reset request using a specially crafted email address that is treated as equivalent to another account. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to take over the targeted account. No user interaction is required.
According to the CVSS metric, the attack complexity is high (AC:H). What does this mean for this vulnerability?
Successful exploitation requires the attacker to control a distinct email address that an affected application's account lookup treats as equivalent to the victim's address, while messages are delivered to a different mailbox.
Affected products (13)
Other
| Product | Security update | Type | Fixed build | Restart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGenerators.Mvc | Release Notes | Security Update | 10.0.3 | |
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design | Release Notes | Security Update | 10.0.3 | |
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design on .NET 8.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 8.0.24 | |
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design on .NET 9.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 9.0.13 | |
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGenerators.Mvc on .NET 8.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 8.0.24 | |
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGenerators.Mvc on .NET 9.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 9.0.13 | |
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGenerators.Mvc on .NET 10.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 10.0.3 | |
| Microsoft.VisualStudio.Web.CodeGeneration.Design on .NET 10.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 10.0.3 |
Developer Tools
| Product | Security update | Type | Fixed build | Restart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft.dotnet-scaffold-aspnet | Release Notes | Security Update | 9.0.13 | |
| Microsoft.dotnet-scaffold | Release Notes | Security Update | 20.3.0 | |
| Microsoft.DotNet.Web.ProjectTemplates.8.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 8.0.34 | |
| Microsoft.DotNet.Web.ProjectTemplates.9.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 9.0.23 | |
| Microsoft.DotNet.Web.ProjectTemplates.10.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | 10.0.15 |
Acknowledgments
- Edmilson Júnior (sierghart)
- Alon L with Botanica Software Labs
- Leonardo Souza with Delfia
- novice-22
- Subodh Kumar with https://www.linkedin.com/in/s-kustm/
- Attila.Cs(zerodaybugs.com) with https://zerodaybugs.com/
Revision history
| Version | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Information published. |