Vulnerabilities & Exploits

Microsoft Copilot Patch Lands Amid Scope Dispute

Microsoft patched CoSnitch, CVE-2026-24301, in Copilot on August 18 after Varonis said it found an undocumented `autorun=1` parameter that let a crafted link run a prompt without a visible approval step. The reporting now splits on scope: Microsoft says only Copilot Personal was affected, while Ars Technica describes the exploit against Microsoft 365 Copilot Enterprise.

The trick was to ask Copilot why auto-run was blocked until it disclosed the hidden switch, then pair that parameter with the normal `q` field so the prompt fired as soon as the page loaded. In Varonis’ account, that could pull data from connected services and send it out through Copilot’s own URL-fetch behavior, all inside the user’s authenticated session.

That leaves the blast radius unresolved in public reporting, which matters for anyone treating Copilot as a cleanly segmented consumer or enterprise control. Even with Microsoft’s patch, the trust boundary is the story: a link can still become an execution path if your assistant can read connected apps and honor URL-driven input.

4 sources · Aug 19

CVE-2026-24301

NVD KEV

CVSS 8.8 HIGH: improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in Microsoft Copilot allows an…

Timeline

Sources

Vendor digest: Microsoft

Part of the PlainSec briefing for 2026-08-18

Every edition of this story: Microsoft Copilot Patch Lands Amid Scope Dispute

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