PatchaPalooza

CVE-2026-121663: Visual Studio Code Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-121663 is a security feature bypass vulnerability in Visual Studio Code, rated Important by Microsoft, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (High). An attacker can exploit it remotely over the network, without any privileges and only if a user takes an action. Microsoft has not reported exploitation in the wild and rates exploitation as more likely. Microsoft released the fix on 10 November 2026 in the November 2026 Patch Tuesday. It affects 1 product in 1 product family (Developer Tools).

Key facts

CVE ID
CVE-2026-121663
Severity
High CVSS 8.8
Microsoft severity
Important
Impact
Security Feature Bypass
Exploited in the wild
No
Publicly disclosed
No
Exploitation likelihood
More Likely
CISA KEV
Not listed
Released
Last updated
Patch Tuesday
November 2026 Patch Tuesday
Product families
Developer Tools

CVSS score and vector

Microsoft scores CVE-2026-121663 at 8.8 (temporal 7.7) using CVSS 3.1. Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

MetricValue
Attack vectorNetwork
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionRequired
ScopeUnchanged
Confidentiality impactHigh
Integrity impactHigh
Availability impactHigh
Exploit code maturityUnproven
Remediation levelOfficial fix
Report confidenceConfirmed

Description

Incomplete list of disallowed inputs in Visual Studio Code allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network.

Frequently asked questions (Microsoft)

How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability?

An attacker could convince a user to open a specially crafted Visual Studio Code workspace. Successful exploitation could bypass Workspace Trust protections and allow attacker-controlled content to execute code in the context of the user. User interaction is required, but the user does not need to grant trust.

Affected products (1)

Developer Tools

ProductSecurity updateTypeFixed buildRestart
Visual Studio CodeRelease NotesSecurity Update1.145.3

Acknowledgments

  • Bill Hsu

Revision history

VersionDateDescription
1.0Information published.

Sources