CVE-2026-22927: Workspace ONE Tunnel Privilege Escalation

CVE-2026-22927 Overview

CVE-2026-22927 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Omnissa Workspace ONE® Tunnel for Windows. The flaw is classified under [CWE-22] (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory, or path traversal). An authenticated local attacker with low privileges can leverage the weakness to gain elevated permissions on the affected host, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Critical Impact
A low-privileged local user can escalate to higher privileges on a Windows endpoint running Workspace ONE Tunnel, enabling full compromise of the host without user interaction.

Affected Products

Omnissa Workspace ONE® Tunnel for Windows

Discovery Timeline

2026-07-08 - CVE-2026-22927 published to NVD
2026-07-09 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-22927

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-22927 is a local privilege escalation issue rooted in improper path handling within the Workspace ONE Tunnel client for Windows. The weakness is categorized as [CWE-22], indicating that the software fails to properly restrict pathname resolution to an intended directory. An attacker who already has an authenticated local session can abuse this behavior to influence file operations performed by a higher-privileged process.

The attack requires local access and low privileges, but no user interaction. Successful exploitation yields high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system. Omnissa has published advisory OMSA-2026-0002 with remediation details.

Root Cause

The root cause is a path traversal weakness in how Workspace ONE Tunnel resolves or validates file paths during privileged operations. When a privileged component reads, writes, or executes files at attacker-controllable locations, a local user can redirect those operations outside the intended directory. This mismatch between the privilege level of the operating process and the trust level of the input path enables privilege escalation.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires local access to a Windows host running the vulnerable Tunnel client. An authenticated low-privileged attacker plants or manipulates files, symbolic links, or junctions in a location referenced by the privileged Tunnel service. When the service processes those paths, it performs actions in a directory chosen by the attacker, resulting in code execution or file manipulation with SYSTEM-level privileges.

No verified public proof-of-concept code is available at this time. See the Omnissa Advisory OMSA-2026-0002 for vendor-supplied technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-22927

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected file creation, modification, or symbolic links inside directories used by the Workspace ONE Tunnel service.
Child processes spawned by the Tunnel service that execute binaries from user-writable paths.
Sudden privilege transitions from a standard user context to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM correlated with Tunnel activity.

Detection Strategies

Monitor file system activity in Tunnel installation and working directories for writes originating from non-administrative users.
Alert on creation of NTFS junctions, hard links, or symbolic links that target Tunnel-controlled paths.
Correlate process lineage where the Workspace ONE Tunnel service invokes unexpected executables or scripts.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable Windows object access auditing on Tunnel program directories and configuration paths.
Ingest endpoint process, file, and privilege-change telemetry into a centralized analytics platform for correlation.
Track installed Workspace ONE Tunnel versions across the fleet to identify hosts running unpatched builds.

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-22927

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the fixed version of Workspace ONE Tunnel for Windows as described in Omnissa Advisory OMSA-2026-0002.
Inventory all Windows endpoints running Workspace ONE Tunnel and prioritize patching of multi-user and high-value hosts.
Restrict local logon rights on affected endpoints to reduce the pool of users who could exploit the flaw.

Patch Information

Omnissa has released updated Workspace ONE Tunnel for Windows builds that remediate CVE-2026-22927. Consult Omnissa Advisory OMSA-2026-0002 and the Omnissa Security Response Overview for the fixed version numbers and download locations.

Workarounds

Limit interactive and remote local logon rights on hosts running Workspace ONE Tunnel until patching is complete.
Enforce least-privilege file system ACLs on directories referenced by the Tunnel service to block user-writable path substitution.
Monitor endpoints for the indicators listed above and isolate any host showing suspicious Tunnel-related activity.

bash

# Configuration example
# See Omnissa Advisory OMSA-2026-0002 for vendor-supplied remediation steps.
# https://www.omnissa.com/omsa-2026-0002