5.4
MEDIUM CVSS 4.0
CVE-2026-4869
Potential Privilege Escalation in InstallShield
Description

A potential privilege escalation issue was identified in InstallShield version 2025 R2 and earlier when running compressed Basic MSI setup with Prerequisites from an insecure location. If a local administrator launches a compressed Setup.exe with Prerequisites from an unsecured location, the Prerequisite installers also might load from an unsecured location, potentially leading to privilege escalation.

INFO

Published Date :

Oct. 13, 2026, 3:17 p.m.

Last Modified :

Oct. 13, 2026, 3:17 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

No
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-4869 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Flexera installshield
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 4.0 MEDIUM 44d08088-2bea-4760-83a6-1e9be26b15ab
CVSS 4.0 MEDIUM [email protected]
Solution
Update InstallShield and ensure Prerequisites are sourced securely to prevent privilege escalation.
  • Update InstallShield to a secure version.
  • Ensure Prerequisites are loaded from secure locations.
  • Restrict access to Prerequisite installer locations.
  • Run Setup.exe from a trusted directory.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to CVE-2026-4869.

URL Resource
https://community.revenera.com/s/article/CVE-2026-4869-Potential-Privilege-Escalation-in-InstallShield-2025-R2-running-Setup-Prerequisites-from-an-insecure-directory
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-4869 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-4869 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-4869 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-4869 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Oct. 13, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description A potential privilege escalation issue was identified in InstallShield version 2025 R2 and earlier when running compressed Basic MSI setup with Prerequisites from an insecure location. If a local administrator launches a compressed Setup.exe with Prerequisites from an unsecured location, the Prerequisite installers also might load from an unsecured location, potentially leading to privilege escalation.
    Added CVSS V4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
    Added CWE CWE-426
    Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/4xxx/CVE-2026-4869.json">CVE-2026-4869</a>
    Added Reference https://community.revenera.com/s/article/CVE-2026-4869-Potential-Privilege-Escalation-in-InstallShield-2025-R2-running-Setup-Prerequisites-from-an-insecure-directory
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.