CVE-2026-49986Cortex has Untrusted Project Bootstrap Code Execution via `CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR`
- 7.1HighCVSS base score
- 0.16%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 95% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
The Cortex MCP server (`neuro-cortex-memory`), a cross-platform persistent memory MCP, prior to version 3.17.1 treats the `CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR` environment variable — automatically set by Claude Code to the currently open project directory — as a trusted Cortex developer checkout. When the `open_visualization` tool is invoked, `_find_dev_source()` resolves the user's active project directory as a candidate Cortex source root. The only validation performed by `_is_cortex_root()` is a check for the presence of an `mcp_server/` 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 `mcp_server/server/visualize_bootstrap.py` from that directory via `subprocess.run([sys.executable, ...])`, achieving code execution with the privileges of the victim's local user process. Version 3.17.1 fixes the issue.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Show the exploits1
References tagged exploit1 reference
- https://github.com/cdeust/Cortex/security/advisories/GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 2 months later
· 2 months later
Published
- 3 days later
· 3 days later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 4.0 | High7.1 | 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 |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 4.0 | High7.1 | 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/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 |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.16% · top 95% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.1.
Affected products
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIneuro-cortex-memoryGHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g (opens in a new tab)
References
References3
- https://github.com/cdeust/Cortex/security/advisories/GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit
- https://github.com/cdeust/Cortex/releases/tag/v3.17.1 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/neuro-cortex-memory/PYSEC-2026-2676.yaml (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2026-58715 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-gvpp-v77h-5w8g (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2026-49986)Record last updated .