CVE-2026-21052
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedPath traversal in SemClipboardService prior to SMR Jul-2026 Release 1 allows local privileged attackers to access files with system privilege.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceA path traversal vulnerability in SemClipboardService allows local privileged attackers to escape the intended directory and access arbitrary files on the system with elevated (system) privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- Authentication
- X
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- X
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if SemClipboardService is presentCheck for the service using: Get-Service -Name '*SemClipboard*' (Windows) or systemctl list-units | grep -i semclipboard (Linux)Affected if Service is not found - not applicable; if service exists, continue checking
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Locate the SemClipboardService executable and versionFind the executable path (commonly in C:\Program Files\Samsung\ or similar), then right-click the .exe file, select Properties, and check the Details tab for File Version and Product VersionAffected if Unable to locate version information - manual investigation needed
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Compare installed version against patched releaseCompare the found version to 'SMR Jul-2026 Release 1' - check if it is earlier than this release or if version string indicates unpatched buildAffected if Version is earlier than SMR Jul-2026 Release 1 or version cannot be determined to be patched
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Verify service runs with elevated privilegesOpen Services console (services.msc), find SemClipboardService, right-click and select Properties, check the 'Log On' tab - look for 'Local System account' or similar elevated privilegesAffected if Service runs under Local System account or other elevated privileges, making the path traversal exploitable at high severity
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Check if the vulnerable clipboard directory is accessibleLocate the configured clipboard staging directory (typically under the service install path or AppData), verify if the service has write access outside this directory boundaryAffected if Service has filesystem access beyond its intended clipboard directory, indicating the path traversal is exploitable
If SemClipboardService is installed and runs with system privileges on a version earlier than SMR Jul-2026 Release 1, the environment is vulnerable to arbitrary file access via path traversal.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate SemClipboardService to SMR Jul-2026 Release 1 or later to obtain the patched version that addresses the path traversal vulnerability.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-21052 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-21052 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data