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CVE-2026-50523 is a command injection vulnerability identified in Microsoft PowerShell, published on August 14, 2026, and last modified on August 18, 2026. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of special elements used in a command—a weakness classified under CWE-77. In essence, PowerShell constructs all or part of a command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component but fails to neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended command when it is sent to a downstream component.
An authorized attacker with local access and low privileges can exploit this flaw by injecting specially crafted command elements into PowerShell’s command processing routine. The vulnerability requires no user interaction, has low attack complexity, and, upon successful exploitation, grants the attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code locally with high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The CVSS 3.1 base score assigned by Microsoft Corporation is 7.8 (HIGH), with the vector string: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
The vulnerability affects PowerShell versions 7.4.0 through 7.4.18, 7.5.0 through 7.5.9, and 7.6.0 through 7.6.4. Microsoft has addressed the issue in versions 7.4.19.0, 7.5.10.0, and 7.6.5. The French national cybersecurity agency (CERT-FR) has also published an advisory referencing this CVE. As of the publication date, no public exploit is available, and the CISA KEV catalog has not yet收录 this vulnerability.
DailyCVE Form:
Platform: Microsoft PowerShell
Version: 7.4.0-7.4.18, 7.5.0-7.5.9, 7.6.0-7.6.4
Vulnerability: Command Injection (CWE-77)
Severity: HIGH (CVSS 7.8)
date: August 14, 2026
Prediction: Patch expected August 2026 (already released)
What Undercode Say:
Check current PowerShell version
$PSVersionTable.PSVersion
Verify if system is vulnerable (versions below 7.4.19, 7.5.10, or 7.6.5)
if ($PSVersionTable.PSVersion -lt [bash]"7.4.19" -or
($PSVersionTable.PSVersion -ge [bash]"7.5.0" -and $PSVersionTable.PSVersion -lt [bash]"7.5.10") -or
($PSVersionTable.PSVersion -ge [bash]"7.6.0" -and $PSVersionTable.PSVersion -lt [bash]"7.6.5")) {
Write-Host "Vulnerable to CVE-2026-50523" -ForegroundColor Red
} else {
Write-Host "Not vulnerable to CVE-2026-50523" -ForegroundColor Green
}
Check installed PowerShell updates via Windows Update
Get-HotFix | Where-Object { $_.HotFixID -like "KB" } | Select-Object HotFixID, InstalledOn
Query Microsoft Update Catalog for PowerShell updates
(Manual verification recommended via https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-50523)
Exploit: (Educational Purposes!)
The vulnerability can be triggered when user-supplied input is passed unsanitized into a command string. An attacker with local access could craft input containing shell metacharacters such as ;, |, &, $(), or backticks to append or inject arbitrary commands. For example, if an application passes unsanitized user input into `Invoke-Expression` or Start-Process -ArgumentList, an attacker could inject `; calc.exe` to execute the calculator or more malicious payloads. The injected commands execute with the privileges of the PowerShell process—typically the authenticated user’s permissions. No public exploit code has been released as of this writing.
Protection:
- Update PowerShell to version 7.4.19.0 or later, 7.5.10.0 or later, or 7.6.5 or later.
- Follow the Microsoft Security Update Guide for detailed installation instructions: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-50523.
- Avoid constructing shell commands from unsanitized user input; use parameterized APIs or array-style argument passing where possible.
- Implement strict input validation and allowlist filtering for any data that influences command execution.
- Run PowerShell with the least privileges necessary and consider using constrained language mode in high-security environments.
Impact:
Successful exploitation allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected system with the privileges of the PowerShell process. The CVSS score of 7.8 indicates high impact on confidentiality (complete loss of data confidentiality), integrity (complete loss of data integrity), and availability (complete loss of system availability). An attacker could read sensitive files, modify or delete critical data, install malware, or pivot to other systems within the network. Because the attack vector is local and requires low privileges, this vulnerability poses a significant risk in environments where untrusted users have local access to systems running vulnerable PowerShell versions.
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Sources:
Reported By: nvd.nist.gov
Extra Source Hub:
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