Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-42271

RCE in Redhat Openshift Ai 2.25 – 2.25.8

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRCECommand Injection
Published
08 May 2026
Modified
15 July 2026
KEV Added
08 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.83 99.6th percentile
Risk Priority 75 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-42271 is a high-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Redhat Openshift Ai. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities 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.

LiteLLM is an AI gateway proxy server that routes calls to LLM APIs using OpenAI-compatible or native formats. CVE-2026-42271 affects versions 1.74.2 through 1.83.6 and stems from two unauthenticated-role endpoints, POST /mcp-rest/test/connection and POST /mcp-rest/test/tools/list, that accept an arbitrary MCP server configuration containing command, args, and env fields for the stdio transport. When presented with such a configuration the endpoints spawn the supplied command as a child process on the proxy host, inheriting the privileges of the LiteLLM process; the only access control is possession of any valid proxy API key.

An attacker holding a low-privilege internal-user key can therefore submit a malicious stdio configuration to either endpoint and execute arbitrary operating-system commands on the underlying host, achieving full remote code execution with the proxy’s permissions. The vulnerability maps to CWE-77 and CWE-78 and carries a CVSS 4.0 score of 8.7.

The issue is resolved in LiteLLM 1.83.7; the project’s release notes and the accompanying GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-v4p8-mg3p-g94g describe the patch and urge immediate upgrade. The vulnerability also appears in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, confirming observed in-the-wild exploitation. The associated EPSS score has remained steady at 0.6078 with no material increase since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

LiteLLM is a proxy server (AI Gateway) to call LLM APIs in OpenAI (or native) format. From version 1.74.2 to before version 1.83.7, two endpoints used to preview an MCP server before saving it — POST /mcp-rest/test/connection and POST /mcp-rest/test/tools/list…

more

— accepted a full server configuration in the request body, including the command, args, and env fields used by the stdio transport. When called with a stdio configuration, the endpoints attempted to connect, which spawned the supplied command as a subprocess on the proxy host with the privileges of the proxy process. The endpoints were gated only by a valid proxy API key, with no role check. Any authenticated user — including holders of low-privilege internal-user keys — could therefore run arbitrary commands on the host. This issue has been patched in version 1.83.7.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
08 June 2026

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: ai, llm, mcp, 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.
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-12987Shared CWE-77, CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2020-2509Shared CWE-77, CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2021-1498Shared CWE-77, CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2024-9380Shared CWE-77, CWE-78both on KEV
CVE-2012-1823Same vendor: Redhatboth on KEV
CVE-2023-1389Shared CWE-77both on KEV
CVE-2026-7061Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2026-4496Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2025-11490Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2026-7785Shared CWE-77, CWE-78

Affected Assets

litellm
litellm
1.74.2 — 1.83.7
redhat
openshift ai
3.4 · 2.25 — 2.25.8 · 3.3 — 3.3.4

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)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.

Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.

Least privilege reduces the permissions available to any process that could be subverted by injected commands.

Least functionality restricts available OS commands and interpreters, limiting the blast radius of injection.

Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.

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

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

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

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References