CVE-2026-22561

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-03-31 · updated 2026-07-24
Weakness: CWE-427

Description

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.

Affected products

Anthropic Claude Desktop - Windows: before 1.1.3363 — fixed in 1.1.3363

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Anthropic Claude Desktop - Windows 1.1.3363. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://trust.anthropic.com/resources?s=1cvig6ldp3zvuj1yffzr11&name=cve-2026-22561-dll-search-order-hijacking-in-claude-for-windows-installer

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