Local privilege escalation via unquoted service path
Published Jan 21, 2026 · Updated Jan 21, 2026
Privilege escalation in VFS for Git 1.0.21014.1 allows local users to execute code as LocalSystem through GVFS.Service. The Windows service registers an unquoted binary path, so Windows searches space-delimited path prefixes and can launch an attacker-placed executable. A low-privileged local user must be able to write an executable to a searched prefix and wait for service startup or system reboot.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in VFS for Git 1.0.21014.1 allows local users to execute code as LocalSystem through GVFS.Service. The Windows service registers an unquoted binary path, so Windows searches space-delimited path prefixes and can launch an attacker-placed executable. A low-privileged local user must be able to write an executable to a searched prefix and wait for service startup or system reboot.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-47874
- Published
- Jan 21, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 21, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- VFS for Git
- Classifications
- CWE-428, T1574.009
- 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=1.0.21014.1
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
- VFS for Git 1.0.21014.1 - GVFS.Service Unquoted Service Pathproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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