Is CVE-2026-23988 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2026-23988 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2026-23988 be exploited remotely?

No. CVE-2026-23988 requires local access to exploit.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-23988?

CVE-2026-23988 has a CVSS score of 7.0 (HIGH).

HOME VULNERABILITIESCVE-2026-23988

HIGH

CVE-2026-23988

CWE-367Published: January 22, 2026· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

7.0

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives. Versions 4.11 and below contain a race condition (TOCTOU) in src/net.c during the creation, validation, and execution of the Fido PowerShell script. Since Rufus runs with elevated privileges (Administrator) but writes the script to the %TEMP% directory (writeable by standard users) without locking the file, a local attacker can replace the legitimate script with a malicious one between the file write operation and the execution step. This allows arbitrary code execution with Administrator privileges. This issue has been fixed in version 4.12_BETA.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2026-23988 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.

Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 7.0.