CVE-2026-26030
Published: 19 February 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-26030 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Microsoft Semantic Kernel. Its CVSS base score is 9.9 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 27.7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 CM-7 (Least Functionality) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Threat & Defense at a Glance
Threat & Defense Details
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
Directly requires timely remediation of identified flaws by upgrading the vulnerable Semantic Kernel Python SDK to version 1.39.4 or higher to eliminate the RCE vulnerability.
Enables restriction or prohibition of the vulnerable InMemoryVectorStore filter functionality in production, matching the vendor's workaround to prevent exploitation.
Supports scanning for and identifying the presence of the vulnerable Semantic Kernel Python SDK versions to enable proactive flaw remediation.
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Remote code execution via code injection in Python SDK enables exploitation of public-facing applications (T1190), Python interpreter execution (T1059.006), and privilege escalation from low privileges to full system compromise (T1068).
NVD Description
Semantic Kernel, Microsoft's semantic kernel Python SDK, has a remote code execution vulnerability in versions prior to 1.39.4, specifically within the `InMemoryVectorStore` filter functionality. The problem has been fixed in version `python-1.39.4`. Users should upgrade this version or higher. As…
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a workaround, avoid using `InMemoryVectorStore` for production scenarios.
Deeper analysisAI
CVE-2026-26030 is a remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-94: Code Injection) affecting Microsoft's Semantic Kernel Python SDK in versions prior to 1.39.4. The flaw resides specifically in the `InMemoryVectorStore` filter functionality, allowing arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability was published on 2026-02-19 and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.9, reflecting its critical severity.
An attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this over the network (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). Successful exploitation leads to high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), with a changed scope (S:C), enabling full system compromise on affected deployments.
Mitigation is available via upgrade to version python-1.39.4 or higher, as detailed in the GitHub security advisory (GHSA-xjw9-4gw8-4rqx), release notes, and associated pull request. As a workaround, avoid using `InMemoryVectorStore` in production scenarios.
Details
- CWE(s)