CVE-2026-42834: Windows Admin Center in Azure Portal Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Overview

Severity

High (CVSS 7.8)

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Category

Elevation of Privilege

Exploit Status

Not Exploited

Exploitation Likelihood

Less Likely

Patch Tuesday

2026-May

Released

2026-05-19

Description

Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Azure Portal Windows Admin Center allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

FAQ

What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges. What customer action needs to take place to mitigate the vulnerability? Customers should install the latest version of the Windows Admin Center extension through the Azure Portal. There is no direct download link; instead, customers need to open the Extensions + Applications blade for their virtual machine in the Azure Portal and search for the extension named AdminCenter (Microsoft.AdminCenter.AdminCenter). From there, they can add or update the extension following the standard Azure VM extension installation process described here.

Affected Products (1)

Azure

• Windows Admin Center in Azure Portal

Acknowledgments

<a href="https://twitter.com/crispr_x">BochengXiang(@Crispr)</a> with FDU

Revision History

• 2026-05-19: Information published. This CVE was addressed by updates that were released in May 2026, but the CVE was inadvertently omitted from the May 2026 Security Updates. This is an informational change only. Customers who have already installed the May 2026 updates do not need to take any further action.