Cortex has Untrusted Project Bootstrap Code Execution via `CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR`

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-49986
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-08-14 17:18:27 UTC
Updated2026-08-14 17:18:27 UTC
DescriptionThe Cortex MCP server (`neuro-cortex-memory`), a cross-platform persistent memory MCP, prior to version 3.17.1 treats the `CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR` environment variable — automatically set by Claude Code to the currently open project directory — as a trusted Cortex developer checkout. When the `open_visualization` tool is invoked, `_find_dev_source()` resolves the user's active project directory as a candidate Cortex source root. The only validation performed by `_is_cortex_root()` is a check for the presence of an `mcp_server/` subdirectory and a `ui/unified-viz.html` file. An attacker who places these two marker files in a malicious repository can cause Cortex to execute an arbitrary `mcp_server/server/visualize_bootstrap.py` from that directory via `subprocess.run([sys.executable, ...])`, achieving code execution with the privileges of the victim's local user process. Version 3.17.1 fixes the issue.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 7.1 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Problem Types: CWE-829 | CWE-829 CWE-829: Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary7.1HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/C...
4.0CNADECLARED7.1HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Cdeust Cortex affected < 3.17.1 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/cdeust/Cortex/releases/tag/v3.17.1 [email protected] github.com
github.com/cdeust/Cortex/security/advisories/GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g [email protected] github.com
github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/neuro-cortex-memory/PY... [email protected] github.com
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