Uncontrolled search path elements in Anthropic Claude for Windows installer (Claude Setup.exe) versions prior to 1.1.3363 allow local privilege escalation via DLL search-order h...
Date: 2026-03
Affected: anthropic/claude, microsoft/windows
Attack vector: rce
Category: vulnerability-disclosure
Severity: High
CVE: CVE-2026-22561
CWE: CWE-427
CVSS: 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)

Uncontrolled search path elements in Anthropic Claude for Windows installer (Claude Setup.exe) versions prior to 1.1.3363 allow local privilege escalation via DLL search-order hijacking. The installer loads DLLs (e.g., profapi.dll) from its own directory after UAC elevation, enabling arbitrary code execution if a malicious DLL is planted alongside the installer.


Mitigations:

Architectural layers (MAESTRO):