NousResearch Hermes Agent up to 0.16.x/2026.6.18 auth.json improper authorization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in NousResearch Hermes Agent up to 0.16.x/2026.6.18. Impacted is an unknown function of the file auth.json. Such manipulation leads to improper authorization. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-82020. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in NousResearch Hermes Agent up to 0.16.x/2026.6.18 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is an unknown part of the file auth.json. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a improper authorization vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-285. The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Hermes Agent 0.16.0 prior to 0.17.0 contains an improper path restriction vulnerability that allows attackers who can influence ingested message content to overwrite the credential store by bypassing sensitive-path guards that excluded the auth.json file. Attackers can craft malicious messages directing the agent's file-write tooling to overwrite the credential store without triggering any path-based protection, enabling credential tampering or unauthorized access.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-82020 since 08/27/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1548.002.

By approaching the search of inurl:auth.json it is possible to find vulnerable targets with Google Hacking.

Upgrading to version 0.17.0 or 2026.6.19 eliminates this vulnerability.

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Vendor

• NousResearch

Name

• Hermes Agent

Version

• 0.1
• 0.2
• 0.3
• 0.4
• 0.5
• 0.6
• 0.7
• 0.8
• 0.9
• 0.10
• 0.11
• 0.12
• 0.13
• 0.14
• 0.15
• 0.16
• 2026.6.0
• 2026.6.1
• 2026.6.2
• 2026.6.3
• 2026.6.4
• 2026.6.5
• 2026.6.6
• 2026.6.7
• 2026.6.8
• 2026.6.9
• 2026.6.10
• 2026.6.11
• 2026.6.12
• 2026.6.13
• 2026.6.14
• 2026.6.15
• 2026.6.16
• 2026.6.17
• 2026.6.18

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Discussion