CVE-2026-20799

Local privilege escalation via untrusted search path

Published Aug 11, 2026 · Updated Aug 11, 2026

Untrusted search path handling in Intel Battery Life Diagnostic Tool before 2.9.0 allows local users to escalate privileges. Intel identifies the locus only as Ring 3 application code and does not disclose the executable, library, or lookup that uses the unsafe path. Successful exploitation requires a low-privileged authenticated user, high complexity, passive user interaction, and special internal knowledge, and compromises host confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

CVSS severity5.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.10%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Untrusted search path handling in Intel Battery Life Diagnostic Tool before 2.9.0 allows local users to escalate privileges. Intel identifies the locus only as Ring 3 application code and does not disclose the executable, library, or lookup that uses the unsafe path. Successful exploitation requires a low-privileged authenticated user, high complexity, passive user interaction, and special internal knowledge, and compromises host confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-20799
Published
Aug 11, 2026
Updated
Aug 11, 2026
Vendor
Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.
Product
Intel Battery Life Diagnostic Tool
Classifications
CWE-426, CAPEC-38, T1574.008
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 11, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 11, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=before version 2.9.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. · Intel Battery Life Diagnostic Toolversion=before version 2.9.0

Published CVSS scores

5.4IntelCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-426Untrusted Search Path
CAPEC-38Leveraging/Manipulating Configuration File Search Paths
T1574.008Path Interception by Search Order Hijacking

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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