CVE-2026-40502
Published: 16 April 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-40502 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Hkuds Openharness. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 25.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).
Deeper analysis
OpenHarness prior to commit dd1d235 contains a command injection vulnerability in its gateway handler. The flaw stems from insufficient separation between local-only and remote-safe commands, allowing remote users to invoke administrative functions that should be restricted. The affected component is the chat-accessible gateway interface in the OpenHarness project, which processes commands without proper authorization checks, as indicated by the associated CWE-862 classification and an 8.7 CVSS score.
Remote gateway users who already possess chat access can exploit the issue by sending crafted commands through remote chat sessions. Successful exploitation enables attackers to execute sensitive administrative actions such as /permissions full_auto, which alters permission modes on a running instance without operator consent or additional authentication.
The referenced GitHub commit dd1d235 and pull request 127 address the vulnerability by updating the gateway handler logic. The VulnCheck advisory recommends applying the fix to prevent unauthorized administrative command execution. The associated EPSS scores remain low, with a current value of 0.0104 and a peak of 0.0138, indicating no material increase in exploitation interest after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-23141
Vulnerability details
OpenHarness prior to commit dd1d235 contains a command injection vulnerability that allows remote gateway users with chat access to invoke sensitive administrative commands by exploiting insufficient distinction between local-only and remote-safe commands in the gateway handler. Attackers can execute administrative…
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commands such as /permissions full_auto through remote chat sessions to change permission modes of a running OpenHarness instance without operator authorization.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The vulnerability enables low-privileged remote users to execute unauthorized administrative commands via the gateway handler, directly facilitating exploitation for privilege escalation (T1068) and exploitation of remote services (T1210).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces authorization decisions so remote chat users cannot invoke local-only administrative commands such as /permissions full_auto.
Ensures chat-access accounts receive only the privileges needed for messaging and never the elevated rights required for gateway administrative functions.
Requires explicit control and restriction of remote access sessions, including which commands the gateway will accept from external chat connections.