# CVE-2026-40952: Privilge misconfiguration in Secure Access installers

> Local attackers can elevate privileges to Administrator if Secure Access is installed in a non-default location.

- **Severity:** High 8.5 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 16 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vj56-2hgh-hfqf

## What is CVE-2026-40952?

CVE-2026-40952 is a high-severity vulnerability in Absolute Secure Access, published on 15 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

CVE-2026-40952 is a privilege misconfiguration
in the Secure Access installer for the Windows client and server prior to
version 14.55. Attackers with local access to the client or server can use it
to elevate privileges to Administrator when Secure Access is installed in a
non-default location.

Weakness: CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-40952?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Absolute Secure Access.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-40952?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-40952 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-40952 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40952 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Absolute Secure Access

- [CVE-2026-55402](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-55402/): Denial of service in Secure Access (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2026-33445](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33445/): Memory management vulnerability in Secure Access servers (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2025-49080](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49080/): Memory management vulnerability in Absolute Secure Access server versions 9.0 to 13.54 (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2026-33451](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-33451/): Arbitrary read/write vulnerability in Windows clients prior to 14.50 (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2025-59595](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59595/): Denial of service in Secure Access (high 8.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-40952 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-40952 is a high-severity vulnerability in Absolute Secure Access, published on 15 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-40952 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Absolute Secure Access. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40952/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40952/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-40952
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40952
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-40952

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40952/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.