CVE-2026-40153 PraisonAIAgents: Environment Variable Secret Exfiltration via os.path.expandvars() Bypassing shell=False in Shell Tool
Attackers can exfiltrate environment variable secrets and bypass approval checks in PraisonAIAgents by exploiting unsafe variable expansion in shell commands.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-40153?
CVE-2026-40153 is a high-severity vulnerability in MervinPraison PraisonAIAgents, published on 9 Apr 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
PraisonAIAgents is a multi-agent teams system. Prior to 1.5.128, the execute_command function in shell_tools.py calls os.path.expandvars() on every command argument at line 64, manually re-implementing shell-level environment variable expansion despite using shell=False (line 88) for security. This allows exfiltration of secrets stored in environment variables (database credentials, API keys, cloud access keys). The approval system displays the unexpanded $VAR references to human reviewers, creating a deceptive approval where the displayed command differs from what actually executes. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.5.128.
Weakness: CWE-526
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-40153?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including praisonaiagents. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
praisonaiagents PyPI | All versions | 1.5.128 |
praisonaiagents PyPI | All versions | 1.5.128 |
praisonaiagents PyPI | All versions | 1.5.128 |
Products include Praison Praisonaiagents.
How do I fix CVE-2026-40153?
Upgrade praisonaiagents to 1.5.128 or later.
Is CVE-2026-40153 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-40153 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in MervinPraison PraisonAIAgents
- CVE-2026-34938 PraisonAI: Python Sandbox Escape via str Subclass startswith() Override in execute_code
- CVE-2026-40111 PraisonAIAgents has an OS Command Injection via shell=True in Memory Hooks Executor (memory/hooks.py)
- CVE-2026-34954 PraisonAI: SSRF in FileTools.download_file() via Unvalidated URL
- CVE-2026-34937 PraisonAI: Shell Injection in run_python() via Unescaped $() Substitution
- CVE-2026-44335 SSRF bypass in PraisonAI
Sources
Also known as GHSA-v8g7-9q6v-p3x8, PYSEC-2026-2953.