Claude Desktop: Uncontrolled Search Path Enables Arbitrary Code Execution via Malicious Git Executable
Written by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 from the sources below. Verify against them.
- Exploited
- No known exploitation
- Fix
- Fixed in 1.8089.0
- Who is exposed
- Specific setups only
Do first: Check whether your setup matches what the bug needs. Claude Desktop runs on Windows The user opens a project directory containing the malicious git.exe in Claude Desktop
- Exploitation?/40Exploitation: unknown (data gap). No CISA SSVC exploitation rating yet
- Exposure12/25Specific setups only, reachable over the network without a login
- Reach?/20Reach: unknown (data gap). No tracked technology or package matched
- Severity7.5/10CVSS 7.5
- No patch0/5No signal
What would change the score
- Would score about 70 if added to CISA KEV
- Would score about 65 if CISA's SSVC rates exploitation active
CVE-2026-88066 is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. No public exploit code is tracked. It is rated CVSS 7.5 (high) and affects claude-code; fixed in 1.8089.0.
- 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- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean?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
- A 0-100 score for how much a CVE matters across the industry: exploitation, exposure, how widely the software is used, severity and whether a fix exists.What do these mean? →
- 20/100 · provisional
- How many real-world setups can hit the bug, from the vendor's advisory and CISA data. It does not know your setup.What do these mean? →
- Specific setups only
- Fix
- Fixed in 1.8089.0
- 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
Summary
Claude Desktop for Windows is affected, allowing an attacker to run malicious code with the user's privileges. The flaw occurs when a planted git.exe file in an opened project folder is run instead of the real Git program, so simply opening a malicious or shared repository can trigger it.
Read the original description
Claude Desktop is Anthropic's desktop application for interacting with Claude. Prior to 1.8089.0, Claude Desktop on Windows invokes git.exe through uv_spawn without an absolute path, allowing Windows search-path resolution to select a malicious git.exe placed in the opened project's current working directory before the intended system executable. Opening an attacker-controlled or shared repository can therefore execute the substituted program with the user's privileges. This issue is fixed in version 1.8089.0.
What to do
Check whether your setup matches what the bug needs.
Claude Desktop runs on Windows The user opens a project directory containing the malicious git.exe in Claude DesktopUpgrade to a fixed version: 1.8089.0.
Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
Affected versions
- anthropics claude-code
fixed in 1.8089.0
Evidence 1
- Advisory
Corrections
None so far.
Something wrong on this page? Report an error. Every fix is listed here.
Questions about CVE-2026-88066
Is CVE-2026-88066 being exploited?
It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data
What does this mean?
On Windows, Claude Desktop ran git.exe without an absolute path, so it could pick up a malicious git.exe placed in a project directory. That code ran automatically when a user opened the directory in Claude Desktop.Source: github.com
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-88066?
claude-code: before 1.8089.0.Source: cve.now feed data
Am I affected, and how do I check?
The flaw is in Claude Desktop on Windows. The risky setup is opening a project directory that contains a git.exe file from an untrusted source, such as a cloned repository. To check a Windows install, look at the Claude Desktop version in its About or settings screen and check whether the project folder contains a git.exe file.Source: github.com
How do I fix CVE-2026-88066?
The checked facts list anthropics/claude-code as fixed in 1.8089.0, but they give no fixed Claude Desktop version, so the advisory's Claude Desktop fix is not confirmed here. Update Claude Desktop to the latest release and check the vendor advisory for the version that includes the fix.Source: github.com