Rated Important severity, CVE-2026-102232 carries a CVSS base score of 7.0 and a CVSS temporal score of 6.1 under the vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C. According to Microsoft's official description, Incorrect authorization in Visual Studio Code allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally. The weakness is categorized under CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization).
Key Advisory Metrics and Status Summary
For administrators, security teams, and developers tracking CVE-2026-102232, the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) provides the following official metrics and status indicators:
- CVE ID: CVE-2026-102232
- Title: Visual Studio Code Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
- Affected Product: Visual Studio Code
- Severity: Important
- CVSS Base Score: 7.0
- CVSS Temporal Score: 6.1
- CVSS Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C - Weakness (CWE): CWE-863
- Exploitation Assessment: Exploitation Less Likely
- Publicly disclosed: No
- Exploited: No
- Customer action required: Yes
- Fixed Build: 1.141.1
- Remediation: For Visual Studio Code, update to fixed build 1.141.1 or later.
Section Summary: CVE-2026-102232 is an Important-severity local security feature bypass in Visual Studio Code (CWE-863) with a 7.0 base score and 6.1 temporal score, resolved in build 1.141.1.
How the Vulnerability Works: AI Agents and Lifecycle Hooks
What security feature could be bypassed by successfully exploiting this vulnerability? According to Microsoft's official advisory facts, an attacker could supply specially crafted content that an AI coding agent processes. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to modify a configured lifecycle-hook file without the expected confirmation, which could result in commands executing in the context of the user. User interaction is required to run the agent against attacker-controlled content.
In typical development environments, lifecycle-hook files define automated scripts or tasks that execute during specific project events, such as building or initializing a project. Because modifying these hooks directly alters what code runs on the developer's machine, Visual Studio Code is designed to require explicit user confirmation before an automated agent can alter a configured lifecycle-hook file. Because of the incorrect authorization flaw (CWE-863), that confirmation safeguard can be bypassed when an AI coding agent processes specially crafted content.
Multi-Step Exploitation and Attack Complexity
According to the CVSS metric, the attack complexity is high (AC:H). What does this mean for this vulnerability? As Microsoft's advisory explains, exploitation is not trivial for this vulnerability as it requires multiple steps: prompt injection, Copilot Agent interaction, and triggering a build.
Breaking down the CVSS vector (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C) alongside Microsoft's advisory facts clarifies the exact conditions required for a successful attack:
- Local Attack Vector and Required User Interaction (
AV:L/UI:R): The attacker does not need prior privileges (PR:N), nor does the vulnerability cross a security scope boundary (S:U), but user interaction is required to run the agent against attacker-controlled content. - Prompt Injection and Copilot Agent Interaction (
AC:H): The attacker must supply specially crafted content that an AI coding agent processes, using prompt injection during Copilot Agent interaction to direct the agent toward modifying a configured lifecycle-hook file without the expected confirmation. - Triggering a Build (
C:H/I:H/A:H): Once the configured lifecycle-hook file is modified without confirmation, triggering a build can result in commands executing in the context of the user, yielding high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability for that user session.
Because all of these conditions must align—prompt injection, Copilot Agent interaction, and triggering a build—Microsoft assesses the flaw as Exploitation Less Likely, and the temporal vector reflects unproven exploit maturity with an official fix available and confirmed report confidence (E:U/RL:O/RC:C).
Section Summary: Exploiting CVE-2026-102232 requires a developer to run an AI coding agent against attacker-controlled content, followed by a multi-step chain involving prompt injection, Copilot Agent interaction, and triggering a build to execute commands via a modified lifecycle-hook file.
Remediation and Affected Product Matrix
Because Customer action required: Yes applies to this release, organizations and individual developers using Visual Studio Code should ensure their installations are updated to the vendor fixed version.
| Affected Product | KB Article | Fixed Build | Official Remediation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visual Studio Code | N/A | 1.141.1 | For Visual Studio Code, update to fixed build 1.141.1 or later. |
Practical Guidance for Developers and IT Administrators
To protect developer workstations against CVE-2026-102232:
- Apply the Update Immediately: For Visual Studio Code, update to fixed build 1.141.1 or later.
- Exercise Caution with Untrusted Content: Because user interaction is required to run the agent against attacker-controlled content, developers should remain cautious when running Copilot Agent interactions against unverified repositories, external pull requests, or untrusted files before confirming that fixed build 1.141.1 is installed.
- Inspect Configured Lifecycle-Hook Files: When working in shared or third-party workspaces prior to patching, review any configured lifecycle-hook files before triggering a build to verify that no unexpected modifications have occurred.
Section Summary: Updating Visual Studio Code to fixed build 1.141.1 or later resolves CVE-2026-102232 and restores proper confirmation checks around lifecycle-hook file modifications.