CVE-2026-85879

Local privilege escalation

Published Oct 13, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026

A TOCTOU race in Microsoft Corporation Windows Subsystem for Linux allows local users to elevate privileges via unspecified vectors. The available CNA record does not identify the raced operation or the input whose state changes between checking and use. Exploitation requires authorized local access and a successful race; the record does not specify the resulting privilege level.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.19%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A TOCTOU race in Microsoft Corporation Windows Subsystem for Linux allows local users to elevate privileges via unspecified vectors. The available CNA record does not identify the raced operation or the input whose state changes between checking and use. Exploitation requires authorized local access and a successful race; the record does not specify the resulting privilege level.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-85879
Published
Oct 13, 2026
Updated
Oct 13, 2026
Vendor
Microsoft Corporation
Product
Windows Subsystem for Linux
Classifications
CWE-367, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 13, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 13, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=5.0.0.0 <2.7.10

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Microsoft Corporation · Windows Subsystem for Linuxversion=5.0.0.0 <2.7.10

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

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.

Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.

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

No observations available

Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 28, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
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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