CVE-2026-45311: critical vulnerability in Hmbown CodeWhale
CodeWhale: run_tests Tool Enables RCE via Malicious Repository Without Approval
Published · Updated
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28Vexday Risk Score
No sign of exploitation. No public exploitation artifact known so far.
ssvc Trackcvss 9.6epss 0.6%
CodeWhale is a DeepSeek + MiMo coding agent in terminal. From 0.3.0 to 0.8.23, the run_tests tool executes cargo test in the workspace with ApprovalRequirement::Auto, meaning it runs without any user approval prompt. cargo test compiles and executes arbitrary code: test binaries, build.rs build scripts, and proc macros. While auto-approving test execution is a deliberate design choice, it creates an inconsistency in the security boundary. However, in a malicious repository, test code can execute arbitrary shell commands, exfiltrate credentials, or establish persistence with zero approval. The attack is amplified by AGENTS.md (auto-loaded into the system prompt), which can instruct the model to run tests proactively at session start. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.8.23.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected products
Hmbown · CodeWhaleRelated CVEs — Hmbown CodeWhale
In the same product, most dangerous first.
CVE-2026-75915HIGHCodeWhale before 0.8.64 Environment Variable Leak via js_executionEPSS 0.7%CVE-2026-75914HIGHCodeWhale before 0.8.64 Path Traversal via image_analyze symlinkEPSS 0.5%CVE-2026-75859HIGHCodeWhale before 0.8.64 Arbitrary File Read via instructionsEPSS 0.5%CVE-2026-75856CRITICALCodeWhale before 0.8.64 SSRF Bypass via DNS Pinning TOCTOUEPSS 0.5%CVE-2026-75913HIGHCodeWhale before 0.8.64 Argument Injection via git_showEPSS 0.5%CVE-2026-75912HIGHCodeWhale before 0.8.64 Argument Injection via git_blameEPSS 0.4%