CVE-2026-56178 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
A local attacker can exploit a race condition in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac to elevate privileges.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-56178?
CVE-2026-56178 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac, published on 14 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Weakness: CWE-367
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-56178?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
How do I fix CVE-2026-56178?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-56178 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-56178 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-56178 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac
- CVE-2026-21537 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Linux Extension Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-49057 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Android Spoofing Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-47161 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-21315 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Protection Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- CVE-2022-35828 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as GHSA-2q3v-wwm5-c8hw.