---
id: CVE-2026-56178
title: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
summary: >-
  Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in Microsoft Defender for
  Endpoint allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
severity: medium
cvss: 5.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-367
vendor: Microsoft
product: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac
affected:
  - defender_for_endpoint_for_mac >= 101.0.0 < 101.26042.0020
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-07-13T00:00:00+00:00'
published: '2026-07-14'
updated: '2026-09-17'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-17T22:33:23.187Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-56178'
references:
  - url: 'https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-56178'
    label: >-
      Microsoft Defender for Endpoint for Mac Elevation of Privilege
      Vulnerability
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00233
epssPercentile: 0.12624
ingestedAt: '2026-09-08T17:06:31.905Z'
---

## Overview

Time-of-check time-of-use (toctou) race condition in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

## Affected

- `defender_for_endpoint_for_mac >= 101.0.0 < 101.26042.0020`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.