Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-61260

RCE

Published
14 April 2026
Modified
05 July 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.066 93th percentile
Risk Priority 79 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-61260 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Checkpoint (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as AI Agent Protocols and Integrations; in the Protocol-Specific Risks risk domain.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-61260 is a code injection vulnerability (CWE-94) affecting OpenAI Codex CLI versions v0.23.0 and earlier. The flaw enables arbitrary code execution through malicious MCP (Model Context Protocol) configuration files, specifically project-local .env and .codex/config.toml files. Codex automatically loads these files without user confirmation when the 'codex' command is executed, allowing embedded arbitrary commands to run immediately.

The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating it is exploitable remotely with low complexity, no privileges or user interaction required. Attackers can exploit it by compromising a repository or tricking users into running the codex command within one containing malicious configuration files, achieving high-impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability violations through executed arbitrary commands.

Advisories and patches are detailed in references from OpenAI (http://openai.com) and Check Point Research (https://research.checkpoint.com/2025/openai-codex-cli-command-injection-vulnerability/). Security practitioners should consult these sources for specific mitigation guidance and patch information.

This vulnerability affects an AI-powered code generation tool from OpenAI, highlighting risks in CLI tools that integrate with repositories for AI/ML-assisted development workflows. No real-world exploitation status is available in the provided data.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability was identified in OpenAI Codex CLI v0.23.0 and before that enables code execution through malicious MCP (Model Context Protocol) configuration files. The attack is triggered when a user runs the codex command inside a malicious or compromised repository.…

more

Codex automatically loads project-local .env and .codex/config.toml files without requiring user confirmation, allowing attackers to embed arbitrary commands that execute immediately.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
AI Agent Protocols and Integrations
Risk Domain
Protocol-Specific Risks
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: mcp, model context protocol, openai

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
T1059.006 Python Execution
Adversaries may abuse Python commands and scripts for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-67531Shared CWE-94
CVE-2025-61929Shared CWE-94
CVE-2025-67509Shared CWE-94
CVE-2026-26030Shared CWE-94
CVE-2026-45555Shared CWE-94
CVE-2025-5120Shared CWE-94
CVE-2026-27597Shared CWE-94
CVE-2024-21552Shared CWE-94
CVE-2026-23523Shared CWE-94
CVE-2025-46724Shared CWE-94

Affected Assets

Checkpoint
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

prevents

Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.

none

Controls that restrict unauthorized or malicious code from being introduced via external networks or removable media limit opportunities for an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code.

References