CVE-2026-40952

Local Administrator escalation via installer privilege misconfiguration

Published Jul 15, 2026 · Updated Jul 15, 2026

Privilege misconfiguration in Absolute Secure Access before 14.55 allows local users to gain Administrator rights on Windows. The Windows client and server installer creates the exposure only when Secure Access is installed in a non-default location, but Absolute has not disclosed the incorrect permission or installer operation. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access to an affected client or server and grants full Administrator privileges.

CVSS severity8.5
High
EPSS probability0.14%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege misconfiguration in Absolute Secure Access before 14.55 allows local users to gain Administrator rights on Windows. The Windows client and server installer creates the exposure only when Secure Access is installed in a non-default location, but Absolute has not disclosed the incorrect permission or installer operation. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access to an affected client or server and grants full Administrator privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-40952
Published
Jul 15, 2026
Updated
Jul 15, 2026
Vendor
Absolute Security
Product
Absolute Secure Access
Classifications
CWE-276, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 15, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jul 15, 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=0 <14.55

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Absolute Security · Absolute Secure Accessversion=0 <14.55

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.5Absolute SecurityCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-276Incorrect Default Permissions
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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