Privilege escalation in Hmbown Codewhale
CVE-2026-75857
CodeWhale versions >= 0.8.41 and < 0.8.64 contain a vulnerability in the exec_shell_interact (alias exec_interact) tool, whose approval_requirement returns ApprovalRequirement::Auto. This overrides the default Required approval for code-executing tools, so LLM-controlled stdin is written into an already-approved long-running interactive shell (e.g., a python3 -i REPL, mysql, ssh, or sudo -i session) without any approval prompt. An attacker who can inject instructions via untrusted content the agent ingests (a fetched page, MCP result, or repo file) can cause commands to run at the privilege level of that approved process. Fixed in 0.8.64.
Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.0 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.002 (3.9th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 4th percentile — 3.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.001 · newest: 0.002 · change: +0.000
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-75857?
- CVE-2026-75857 is a high-severity vulnerability in Hmbown Codewhale, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 7.0/10. Published 2026-08-18.
- How severe is CVE-2026-75857?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.0 out of 10.