Local privilege escalation via KUniqueService
Published Apr 21, 2026 · Updated Apr 21, 2026
Local privilege escalation in KDE Kleopatra before 26.08.0 on Windows allows local users to gain the privileges of a running user. KDE identifies the custom Windows KUniqueService single-instance implementation as the vulnerable locus but has not disclosed its exact validation or access-control error. Exploitation requires local unprivileged access and can form a staged path to administrator privileges when Kleopatra runs under a more privileged account.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege escalation in KDE Kleopatra before 26.08.0 on Windows allows local users to gain the privileges of a running user. KDE identifies the custom Windows KUniqueService single-instance implementation as the vulnerable locus but has not disclosed its exact validation or access-control error. Exploitation requires local unprivileged access and can form a staged path to administrator privileges when Kleopatra runs under a more privileged account.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-41527
- Published
- Apr 21, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 21, 2026
- Vendor
- KDE
- Product
- Kleopatra
- Classifications
- CWE-670, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 21, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 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=0 <26.08.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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