// For flags

CVE-2026-44470

Claude Desktop: Local Privilege Escalation via Directory Junction in CoworkVMService

Severity Score

8.5
*CVSS v4

Exploit Likelihood

*EPSS

Affected Versions

*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

Track*
*SSVC
Descriptions

The Claude Desktop app gives you Claude Code with a graphical interface built for running multiple sessions side by side. Prior to 1.3834.0, the CoworkVMService component in Claude Desktop for Windows ran as SYSTEM and did not validate whether the VM bundle directory was a real directory or an NTFS directory junction before creating files within it. A local non-elevated user could replace the user-writable VM bundle directory with a directory junction pointing to an attacker-chosen location, causing the service to create a SYSTEM-owned file in an arbitrary directory. This could be leveraged for local privilege escalation. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.3834.0.

*Credits: N/A
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
System
Vulnerable | Subsequent
Confidentiality
High
None
Integrity
High
None
Availability
High
None
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:Track*
Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Tech. Impact
Total
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2026-05-06 CVE Reserved
  • 2026-05-13 CVE Published
  • 2026-05-13 CVE Updated
  • 2026-05-14 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
  • ---------- First Exploit
CWE
  • CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
  • CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions
Vendor Product Version Other Status
Vendor Product Version Other Status <-- --> Vendor Product Version Other Status
Anthropics
Search vendor "Anthropics"
 Claude-code
Search vendor "Anthropics" for product "Claude-code"
 < 1.3834.0
Search vendor "Anthropics" for product "Claude-code" and version " < 1.3834.0"
en
Affected