Privilege Escalation in NSIS by Nullsoft Scriptable Install System
CVE-2026-42171

7.8HIGH

Key Information:

Vendor

Nullsoft

Vendor
CVE Published:
24 April 2026

What is CVE-2026-42171?

The Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS) prior to version 3.12 is affected by a privilege escalation vulnerability. When executed with SYSTEM privileges, NSIS can incorrectly use a Low Integrity Level temporary directory. This oversight allows local attackers to potentially gain higher privileges if they can manipulate the function my_GetTempFileName to return a value of 0, which can lead to unauthorized access and further exploitation. Users are recommended to upgrade to NSIS version 3.12 or later to mitigate this risk.

Affected Version(s)

Nullsoft Scriptable Install System 3.06.1 < 3.12

References

CVSS V3.1

Score:
7.8
Severity:
HIGH
Confidentiality:
High
Integrity:
High
Availability:
High
Attack Vector:
Local
Attack Complexity:
Low
Privileges Required:
None
User Interaction:
Required
Scope:
Unchanged

Timeline

  • Vulnerability published

  • Vulnerability Reserved

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