Open-Source Security Intelligence

Know every vulnerability
before it knows you.

DevGuard continuously monitors your dependencies and alerts you when CVEs like this one affect your stack — with real-time threat intelligence built for developers.

Checkout DevGuard View on GitHub

GHSA-c4m7-2gwp-vw76

HighCVSS 8.6 / 10

Published May 29, 2026·Last modified May 29, 2026

Affected Components(1)

ouroboros-ai

< 0.39.0

Description

Impact

A Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability was discovered in Ouroboros. If a user clones a malicious repository and runs Ouroboros commands within that directory, it can lead to arbitrary code execution and potential system takeover.

The vulnerability (CWE-426: Untrusted Search Path & CWE-15: External Control of System Setting) stems from Ouroboros loading the .env file from the current working directory. Prior to the patch, execution-affecting environment variables such as OUROBOROS_CLI_PATH, OPENCODE_CLI_PATH, and other backend selectors were accepted directly from this local .env. An attacker could include a malicious script in the repository and point the CLI path variable to it (e.g., OUROBOROS_CLI_PATH=./malicious_script.sh). When the user executes a command like ouroboros init or any command that instantiates the adapter, the malicious script is executed instead of the intended CLI.

Patches

The vulnerability has been patched in version 0.39.0 via PR #1078. The fix establishes a strict trust boundary by applying a denylist to project-local .env loading. It blocks execution-affecting environment variables (such as runtime selectors and CLI path overrides) from being loaded from the project directory. Explicit constructor overrides and trusted user-owned home configurations (~/.ouroboros/.env) remain fully functional.

Users are strongly advised to upgrade to version 0.39.0 or later.

Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible, users must carefully inspect any .env file inside cloned repositories before running Ouroboros commands to ensure it does not contain unexpected OUROBOROS_*_CLI_PATH or OPENCODE_CLI_PATH overrides.

References

GitHub PR: https://github.com/Q00/ouroboros/pull/1078

Risk Scores

Base Score

8.6

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights.

Threat Intelligence

6.1

Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.

EPSS

N/A

Probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days.

Exploit

Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

Browse More

High severity

Scan your project

Continuously monitor your dependencies and get alerted when vulnerabilities like this one affect your stack.