CVE Intelligence
Critical

CVE-2026-97381 — Legacy Update ActiveX control accepts unauthorized hosting origins

Legacy Update is a tool for activating and installing updates on legacy Windows PCs. Legacy Update 1.12.0 through 1.13.1 contains an origin validation error in the IsPermitted method of its ActiveX control. After successfully reading the hosting document's hostname, a hostname that is not on the permitted list falls through without setting E_ACCESSDENIED, causing IsPermitted to return S_OK. An attacker who induces a user to visit a malicious webpage in Internet Explorer can invoke the control to enumerate update and system information, install updates without consent, display dialogs, or restart the computer when a reboot is pending. This issue was fixed in Legacy Update 1.13.2.

Published Oct 13, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, NIST National Vulnerability Database · CNA: GitHub_M

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+2
  • Technical severity (critical)+10

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.21%
ahead of 11% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
LegacyUpdate
LegacyUpdate
CVSS base
9.9
Critical · 2 source(s)

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (LegacyUpdate LegacyUpdate).
  2. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
LegacyUpdate LegacyUpdate version >= 1.12.0, < 1.13.2 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
9.9 CVSS 3.1 Critical 3.1 6.0 security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
9.9 CVSS 3.1 Critical — — GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-346

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Source status changed · Published → Received
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 9.9
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Source status changed · → Published
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • CVE published
    Oct 13, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

5 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

LegacyUpdate
every CVE for this vendor
CWE-346
other pages naming this weakness

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No CISA SSVC assessment.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-97381 is "Legacy Update ActiveX control accepts unauthorized hosting origins", rated Critical. It affects LegacyUpdate (LegacyUpdate); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 9.9 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.21% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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