OpenAI Codex CLI for Windows, macOS, and Linux and Codex Desktop for Windows and macOS misclassified certain PowerShell commands as safe bec
- Published
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
- Exploitation: none
- Automatable: no
- Technical impact: total
Summary
OpenAI Codex CLI for Windows, macOS, and Linux and Codex Desktop for Windows and macOS misclassified certain PowerShell commands as safe because their command-safety parser interpreted PowerShell's stop-parsing token (--%) differently than PowerShell itself. If a user opens an attacker-prepared repository and Codex follows its instructions, Codex can run a file-writing Git command without requesting user approval. On macOS and Linux, exploitation additionally requires separately installed PowerShell Core (pwsh) to be invoked. If filesystem protections permit the write, the command can modify Codex's configuration. If Codex later loads the modified configuration, it can launch an attacker-controlled MCP server and execute code with the user's privileges, allowing it to read, change, or delete files accessible to that account. The approval bypass does not disable filesystem sandboxing; the default filesystem sandbox on macOS and Linux can prevent writes outside permitted locations.
Timeline
- CVE published
- CISA SSVC assessment
Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
- Record last updated
Affected versions
- OpenAI Codex CLI
From 0.72.0 · through 0.130.0
- OpenAI Codex Desktop
From 260202.0859 · through 26.513.31313
- OpenAI Codex Desktop
From 26.304.38 · through 26.513.40821
- OpenAI Codex Desktop (Microsoft Store package)
From 26.304.38.0 · through 26.513.4821.0