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High, CVSS 7.1amended

Cortex has Untrusted Project Bootstrap Code Execution via CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR

CVE-2026-49986GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (neuro-cortex-memory 3.18.0), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS 4.0
7.1 · 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 · score source
EPSS
  • CVE-2026-49986: 0.16% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 5.18 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Untrusted Project Bootstrap Code Execution via CLAUDEPROJECTDIR Summary The Cortex MCP server (neuro-cortex-memory) treats the CLAUDEPROJECTDIR environment variable — automatically set by Claude Code to the currently open project directory — as a trusted Cortex developer checkout. When the openvisualization tool is invoked, finddevsource() resolves the user's active project directory as a candidate Cortex source root. The only validation performed by iscortexroot() is a check for the presence of an mcpserver/ 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 mcpserver/server/visualizebootstrap.py from that directory via subprocess.run([sys.executable, ...]), achieving code execution with the privileges of the victim's local user process. CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 7.8 (High). Details The vulnerability originates in finddevsource() inside mcpserver/handlers/openvisualization.py. The…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 3 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g

  2. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Reviewed OSV alias/range/CVSS4 correction; package source scopes and original publication preserved. No customer finding resolved.

  3. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-49986

Advisory: Cortex has Untrusted Project Bootstrap Code Execution via `CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR`
IDs: CVE-2026-49986, GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-49986 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:46 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: neuro-cortex-memory 3.18.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI neuro-cortex-memory: affected <= 3.17.0; fixed in 3.18.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show neuro-cortex-memory`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on neuro-cortex-memory.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g (OSV record GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g lists affected ranges: PyPI neuro-cortex-memory >=0 <3.18.0 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g lists affected ranges: PyPI neuro-cortex-memory >=0 <=3.17.0)

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