Local privilege escalation via writable service executable
Published Jan 21, 2026 · Updated Jan 21, 2026
Privilege escalation in Rockstar Games Launcher 1.0.37.349 allows local users to gain administrator access via a writable service binary. The RockstarService.exe access-control list grants the Authenticated Users group Modify permission, allowing replacement before service startup. A low-privileged Windows account and the ability to start the Rockstar Service are sufficient for the replacement binary to run with elevated service privileges.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Rockstar Games Launcher 1.0.37.349 allows local users to gain administrator access via a writable service binary. The RockstarService.exe access-control list grants the Authenticated Users group Modify permission, allowing replacement before service startup. A low-privileged Windows account and the ability to start the Rockstar Service are sufficient for the replacement binary to run with elevated service privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47852
- Published
- Jan 21, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 21, 2026
- Vendor
- Rockstar Games
- Product
- Rockstar Games Launcher
- Classifications
- CWE-276, T1574.010
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 21, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 21, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=1.0.37.349
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Rockstar Service - Insecure File Permissionsproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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