RCE in Actualbudget Actual

CVE-2026-42890

Actual is an open-source personal finance application. In the macOS desktop application version 25.x (built on Electron 39.2.7), the ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE fuse is not disabled, allowing an attacker who can place a file on disk or control command-line arguments to invoke the signed Actual.app binary with the ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE=1 environment variable set. This converts the application into a Node.js REPL capable of executing arbitrary code that inherits the application's entitlements and code signature, bypassing macOS Gatekeeper review. Version 26.5.0 patches the issue.

Vulnerability class: RCE (Remote Code Execution)

EPSS: 0.001 (2.6th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References