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Link Following (Symlink)Weakness · CWE-59

CVE-2026-33694

HIGH · 7.4 CVSS v4.0 Published 2026-04-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
74/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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 · unedited
This vulnerability allows an attacker to create a junction, enabling the deletion of arbitrary files with SYSTEM privileges. As a result, this condition potentially facilitates arbitrary code execution, whereby an attacker may exploit the vulnerability to execute malicious code with elevated SYSTEM privileges.

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 confidence

A Windows local privilege escalation vulnerability where an attacker exploits junction creation to delete arbitrary files with SYSTEM privileges, potentially achieving arbitrary code execution with elevated rights.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied security patches when available; restrict file system permissions and limit administrative access to mitigate exploitation.

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
A
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Windows environment
    Verify the operating system is Windows by running 'systeminfo' or checking system properties
    Affected if System is running Windows and is unpatched for CVE-2026-33694
  2. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to obtain the exact Windows version and build number
    Affected if Version falls within the unpatched range for this vulnerability
  3. Verify NTFS file system
    Run 'fsutil fsinfo volumeinfo C:' or check if the system volume uses NTFS; junctions are an NTFS feature
    Affected if System uses NTFS and the relevant junction functionality is present
  4. Check for security updates
    Run 'wmic qfe list' or check Windows Update history for installed security updates related to June 2026 or CVE-2026-33694
    Affected if No relevant security update for this CVE is installed
  5. Verify user permissions context
    Run 'whoami /priv' to confirm current user context and privileges; this is a local privilege escalation requiring authenticated access
    Affected if User has local account access but lacks administrative restrictions preventing exploitation

If running an unpatched Windows version with NTFS and the system lacks the CVE-2026-33694 security update, the environment may be vulnerable to this junction-based privilege escalation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied security patches when available; restrict file system permissions and limit administrative access to mitigate exploitation.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-33694 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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