Security Updates for Microsoft Visual Studio Products (February 2026)

high Nessus Plugin ID 298992

Synopsis

The Microsoft Visual Studio Products are affected by multiple vulnerabilities.

Description

The Microsoft Visual Studio Products are missing security updates. They are, therefore, affected by multiple vulnerabilities, including:

- Improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network. (CVE-2026-21256)

- Improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network. (CVE-2026-21257)

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Microsoft has released the following security updates to address this issue:
- Update to 17.14.26 for Visual Studio 2022 17.14
- Update to 18.3.0 for Visual Studio 2022 18.0

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 298992

File Name: smb_nt_ms26_feb_visual_studio.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: windows

Family: Windows : Microsoft Bulletins

Published: 2/13/2026

Updated: 2/13/2026

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Critical

Base Score: 10

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2026-21256

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 8.8

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:microsoft:visual_studio

Required KB Items: SMB/MS_Bulletin_Checks/Possible, installed_sw/Microsoft Visual Studio, SMB/Registry/Enumerated

Patch Publication Date: 2/10/2026

Vulnerability Publication Date: 2/10/2026

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2026-21256, CVE-2026-21257

IAVA: 2026-A-0119

Detections

Analytics