CVE-2026-75857 CodeWhale before 0.8.64 Privilege Escalation via exec_shell_interact

What is CVE-2026-75857?

CVE-2026-75857 is a high-severity vulnerability in Hmbown CodeWhale, published on 18 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

CodeWhale versions >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.64 (published as deepseek-tui >= 0.3.10 and < 0.8.41 on npm and 0.3.10 through 0.8.41 on crates.io, and as codewhale / codewhale-tui >= 0.8.41 and < 0.8.64) contain a vulnerability in the exec_shell_interact (alias exec_interact) tool, whose approval_requirement returns ApprovalRequirement::Auto. This overrides the default Required approval for code-executing tools, so LLM-controlled stdin is written into an already-approved long-running interactive shell (e.g., a python3 -i REPL, mysql, ssh, or sudo -i session) without any approval prompt. An attacker who can inject instructions via untrusted content the agent ingests (a fetched page, MCP result, or repo file) can cause commands to run at the privilege level of that approved process. Fixed in codewhale / codewhale-tui 0.8.64; the deprecated deepseek-tui crate has no fixed release.

Weakness: CWE-269

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-75857?

8 open source packages ship an affected version, including codewhale-tui, deepseek-tui and codewhale.

How do I fix CVE-2026-75857?

Upgrade codewhale-tui to 0.8.64 or later.

Is CVE-2026-75857 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-75857 exists.

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-g29h-pfmp-qp9r.