OpenAI Codex CLI/Codex Desktop Metadata Collection .git/config privileges management

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in OpenAI Codex CLI and Codex Desktop. Affected is an unknown function of the file .git/config of the component Metadata Collection. The manipulation leads to privileges management. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2026-19592. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in OpenAI Codex CLI and Codex Desktop (version now known). It has been rated as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing of the file .git/config of the component Metadata Collection. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

OpenAI Codex CLI for Windows, macOS, and Linux and Codex Desktop for Windows and macOS automatically collected Git repository metadata without disabling the repository-local core.fsmonitor setting. If a user opens or uses an attacker-prepared repository whose preserved .git/config sets core.fsmonitor to an attacker-controlled filesystem-monitor helper, Git can execute that helper while Codex collects repository metadata. The helper runs outside Codex's command sandbox and without a user-approval prompt, allowing attacker-controlled code to run with the user's privileges. The code can read, change, or delete the user's files and access other resources available to the user's account. An ordinary Git clone does not preserve the source repository's local .git/config; exploitation requires a repository delivered or copied with that configuration intact.

The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-19592 since 08/12/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details are known, but no exploit is 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.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• OpenAI

Name

• Codex CLI
• Codex Desktop

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