CodeWhale before 0.8.64 Privilege Escalation via exec_shell_interact

CISA KEV is observed exploitation evidence. FIRST EPSS is a dated prediction of exploitation in the next 30 days. Missing scores are unknown. This collector requests predictions only for explicit CVE aliases in the public NuGet archive; Microsoft release views retain their existing prediction scope.

No collected risk observation for these identifiers. This does not establish absence of exploitation or a zero probability.

CodeWhale versions >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.64 (published as deepseek-tui >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.41 on npm and 0.3.10 through 0.8.41 on crates.io, and as codewhale / codewhale-tui >= 0.8.41 and < 0.8.64) contain a vulnerability in the exec_shell_interact (alias exec_interact) tool, whose approval_requirement returns ApprovalRequirement::Auto. This overrides the default Required approval for code-executing tools, so LLM-controlled stdin is written into an already-approved long-running interactive shell (e.g., a python3 -i REPL, mysql, ssh, or sudo -i session) without any approval prompt. An attacker who can inject instructions via untrusted content the agent ingests (a fetched page, MCP result, or repo file) can cause commands to run at the privilege level of that approved process. Fixed in codewhale / codewhale-tui 0.8.64; the deprecated deepseek-tui crate has no fixed release.

Source published

18 Aug 2026 15:21:56 UTC

Source modified

29 Oct 2026 21:16:54 UTC

Observed here

29 Oct 2026 22:48:55 UTC

Source terms

CVE Program Terms of Use

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: cve-program · CVE Program Terms of Use. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · 7.3 CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS 3.1 · 7.0 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CodeWhale versions >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.64 (published as deepseek-tui >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.41 on npm and 0.3.10 through 0.8.41 on crates.io, and as codewhale / codewhale-tui >= 0.8.41 and < 0.8.64) contain a vulnerability in the exec_shell_interact (alias exec_interact) tool, whose approval_requirement returns ApprovalRequirement::Auto. This overrides the default Required approval for code-executing tools, so LLM-controlled stdin is written into an already-approved long-running interactive shell (e.g., a python3 -i REPL, mysql, ssh, or sudo -i session) without any approval prompt. An attacker who can inject instructions via untrusted content the agent ingests (a fetched page, MCP result, or repo file) can cause commands to run at the privilege level of that approved process. Fixed in codewhale / codewhale-tui 0.8.64; the deprecated deepseek-tui crate has no fixed release.

Source published

Aug 18, 2026, 3:21:56 PM (timezone not stated)

Source modified

Oct 29, 2026, 9:16:54 PM (timezone not stated)

Observed here

5 Nov 2026 13:43:37 UTC

Source terms

ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: euvd · ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

EUVD CVSS 4.0 · 7.3 CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CodeWhale versions >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.64 (published as deepseek-tui >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.41 on npm and 0.3.10 through 0.8.41 on crates.io, and as codewhale / codewhale-tui >= 0.8.41 and < 0.8.64) contain a vulnerability in the exec_shell_interact (alias exec_interact) tool, whose approval_requirement returns ApprovalRequirement::Auto. This overrides the default Required approval for code-executing tools, so LLM-controlled stdin is written into an already-approved long-running interactive shell (e.g., a python3 -i REPL, mysql, ssh, or sudo -i session) without any approval prompt. An attacker who can inject instructions via untrusted content the agent ingests (a fetched page, MCP result, or repo file) can cause commands to run at the privilege level of that approved process. Fixed in codewhale / codewhale-tui 0.8.64; the deprecated deepseek-tui crate has no fixed release.

Source published

18 Aug 2026 16:18:21 UTC

Source modified

29 Oct 2026 21:17:33 UTC

Observed here

31 Oct 2026 19:04:57 UTC

Source terms

NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: nvd · NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 4.0 · [email protected] · Secondary · 7.3 CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/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

CVSS 3.1 · [email protected] · Secondary · 7.0 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

### Maintainer resolution The CodeWhale maintainers validated this report. The affected package ranges are recorded in the advisory metadata. Version 0.8.64 contains the fix in commit 57f3c89471e27ac4032d9791f6885e5d4408c381. Users should upgrade to 0.8.64 or later. The original reporter analysis is preserved below. ### Summary `exec_shell` is correctly approval-gated. Its sibling `exec_shell_interact` returns `ApprovalRequirement::Auto`, so when the model writes input into a shell the user already approved (a `python3 -i` REPL, `mysql`, `ssh`, `sudo -i`, etc.), no prompt fires. Inside those processes, "stdin" is the command surface, so the model gets to run commands at whatever privilege that process holds. The user approved opening the shell once, for a stated purpose; the input that then runs in it is chosen by the model, and can be steered by any prompt injection the agent ingests afterward. ### Details The vulnerability requires two ordinary preconditions: shell tools are enabled (the normal config for using CodeWhale as a coding agent), and the session already has one approved long-running interactive process. After that, any untrusted content the agent reads can drive a `exec_shell_interact` call. `crates/tui/src/tools/shell.rs:2834-2910`: ```rust fn capabilities(&self) -> Vec<ToolCapability> { vec![ToolCapability::ExecutesCode] } fn approval_requirement(&self) -> ApprovalRequirement { ApprovalRequirement::Auto // overrides the Required-for-ExecutesCode default } async fn execute(&self, input: Value, context: &ToolContext) -> Result<ToolResult, ToolError> { let task_id = required_task_id(&input)?; let close_stdin = optional_bool(&input, "close_stdin", false); let interaction_input = input .get("input").or_else(|| input.get("stdin")).or_else(|| input.get("data")) // LLM-controlled .and_then(serde_json::Value::as_str).unwrap_or(""); { let mut manager = context.shell_manager.lock()...; if !interaction_input.is_empty() || close_stdin { manager.write_stdin(task_id, interaction_input, close_stdin)...; // no prompt } } ... } ``` Same gate as the `rlm_eval` finding: the `Auto` at `approval_requirement()` makes `approval_required` false at `engine.rs:845`, so the `--approval-policy` is never consulted for the stdin write. The trait default at `spec.rs:632` would have been `Required`. The tool is registered unconditionally (`registry.rs:527`), and an alias `exec_interact` on the same struct is registered at `registry.rs:530`, so a fix must cover both names (it does, since they share `ShellInteractTool`). ### PoC 1. User asks the agent to open a REPL; the model calls `exec_shell command="python3 -i"`; the user sees and approves it once. 2. Later in the session, untrusted content (a fetched page, an MCP result, a repo `AGENTS.md`) instructs the model to send a payload to the open REPL. 3. The model calls `exec_shell_interact task_id=<repl> input="import os; os.system('...')\n"`. No prompt fires; Python runs it. Driving the interactive TUI through a pty and scanning the output for an approval dialog shows the only `Approval needed:` lines are for the initial `exec_shell`; `exec_shell_interact` never produces one, while a sentinel file proves the injected input ran. When the approved process is privileged, the reach scales with it: `mysql -u root` becomes arbitrary SQL, `ssh host` becomes commands on the remote host, `sudo -i` becomes root — none re-prompted. ### Impact Code or command execution inside an already-approved process, at that process's privilege level, with no prompt for the escalating input. Lower severity than the `rlm_eval` finding because it needs a prior user approval of an interactive shell, but higher reach when that shell is privileged. ### Credit [sai-sh](https://github.com/sai-sh)

Source published

4 Sep 2026 18:02:10 UTC

Source modified

4 Sep 2026 19:00:04 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:17:17 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS_V4 · CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Publisher rating · HIGH