OpenAI Codex CLI/Codex Desktop Command-Safety Parser unnecessary privileges

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in OpenAI Codex CLI and Codex Desktop. The affected element is an unknown function of the component Command-Safety Parser. This manipulation causes unnecessary privileges. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-19591. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in OpenAI Codex CLI and Codex Desktop (affected version not known) and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown functionality of the component Command-Safety Parser. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a unnecessary privileges vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-250. The product performs an operation at a privilege level that is higher than the minimum level required, which creates new weaknesses or amplifies the consequences of other weaknesses. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

OpenAI Codex CLI for Windows, macOS, and Linux and Codex Desktop for Windows and macOS misclassified certain PowerShell commands as safe because their command-safety parser interpreted PowerShell's stop-parsing token (--%) differently than PowerShell itself. If a user opens an attacker-prepared repository and Codex follows its instructions, Codex can run a file-writing Git command without requesting user approval. On macOS and Linux, exploitation additionally requires separately installed PowerShell Core (pwsh) to be invoked. If filesystem protections permit the write, the command can modify Codex's configuration. If Codex later loads the modified configuration, it can launch an attacker-controlled MCP server and execute code with the user's privileges, allowing it to read, change, or delete files accessible to that account. The approval bypass does not disable filesystem sandboxing; the default filesystem sandbox on macOS and Linux can prevent writes outside permitted locations.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-19591 since 08/12/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/01/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1068 for this issue.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• OpenAI

Name

• Codex CLI
• Codex Desktop

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion