CVE-2026-81376: Visual Studio Code Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Overview

Severity
Critical (CVSS 9.6)
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Category
Security Feature Bypass
Exploit Status
Not Exploited
Exploitation Likelihood
Less Likely
Patch Tuesday
2026-Sep
Released
2026-09-08

Description

Incomplete comparison with missing factors in Visual Studio Code allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature over a network.

FAQ

How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability? An attacker could convince a user to open a specially crafted Visual Studio Code workspace. The workspace could cause Visual Studio Code to connect to an attacker-controlled service and bypass Workspace Trust restrictions. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to access local data or execute code in the context of the user. User interaction is required, but the user does not need to trust the workspace. What security feature could be bypassed by successfully exploiting this vulnerability? An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could bypass the Visual Studio Code Workspace Trust feature, allowing content from an untrusted workspace to run commands or code without the user first granting trust. See Workspace Trust for more information. According to the CVSS metric, a successful exploitation could lead to a scope change (S:C). What does this mean for this vulnerability? In this case, a successful attack can break out of the Visual Studio Code Workspace Trust feature. See Workspace Trust for more information.

Affected Products (1)

Developer Tools

  • Visual Studio Code

Security Updates (1)

Acknowledgments

<a href="https://github.com/samer666569">陳宥升 (CheN..)</a>, <a href="https://github.com/jebeenlee">Jebeen Lee</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/zemnmez">Thomas Neil James Shadwell (zemnmez)</a> with <a href="https://openai.com/">OpenAI</a>, Oran with <a href="https://paloaltonetworks.com/">Palo Alto Networks</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarek-nakkouch/">Tarek Nakkouch</a>, <a href="https://linkedin.com/in/hamzaamirache">ko41a</a>

Revision History

  • 2026-09-08: Information published.