Oct 2026: Windows Subsystem for Linux Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
CVE-2026-85879 Published on October 13, 2026
Windows Subsystem for Linux Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in Windows Subsystem for Linux allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Vulnerability Analysis
Weakness Type
What is a TOCTTOU Vulnerability?
The software checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check. This can cause the software to perform invalid actions when the resource is in an unexpected state. This weakness can be security-relevant when an attacker can influence the state of the resource between check and use. This can happen with shared resources such as files, memory, or even variables in multithreaded programs.
CVE-2026-85879 has been classified to as a TOCTTOU vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-85879
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Affected Versions
Microsoft Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2):- Version 5.0.0.0 and below 2.7.10 is affected.