9.8
CRITICAL CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-45018
Chainlit: Command injection via MCP stdio transport allows unauthenticated remote code execution
Description

Chainlit is a Python framework for building production-ready conversational AI applications. From 2.4.0rc0 until 2.12.0, Chainlit deployments with features.mcp.enabled set to true in .chainlit/config.toml expose the POST /mcp endpoint without requiring authentication. For stdio transport, the endpoint accepts a user-controlled fullCommand string. The validate_mcp_command() function in backend/chainlit/mcp.py checks only the executable name against config.features.mcp.stdio.allowed_executables and passes unchecked arguments to StdioServerParameters in backend/chainlit/server.py. Because npx supports the -c argument, an attacker can execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the Chainlit process. If allowed_executables is unset, its None default is treated as allowing every executable. This issue is fixed in version 2.12.0.

INFO

Published Date :

Aug. 25, 2026, 8:16 p.m.

Last Modified :

Aug. 25, 2026, 8:16 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-45018 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

No affected product recoded yet

CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
CVSS 3.1 CRITICAL [email protected]
CVSS 3.1 CRITICAL MITRE-CVE
Solution
Update Chainlit to version 2.12.0 to fix an unauthenticated arbitrary command execution vulnerability.
  • Update Chainlit to version 2.12.0 or later.
  • Ensure .chainlit/config.toml features.mcp.enabled is set to false.
  • Review and restrict allowed_executables in mcp configuration.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-45018 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-45018 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-45018 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Aug. 25, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Affected [{'vendor': 'Chainlit', 'product': 'chainlit', 'versions': [{'status': 'affected', 'version': '>= 2.4.0rc0, < 2.12.0'}]}]
    Added Description Chainlit is a Python framework for building production-ready conversational AI applications. From 2.4.0rc0 until 2.12.0, Chainlit deployments with features.mcp.enabled set to true in .chainlit/config.toml expose the POST /mcp endpoint without requiring authentication. For stdio transport, the endpoint accepts a user-controlled fullCommand string. The validate_mcp_command() function in backend/chainlit/mcp.py checks only the executable name against config.features.mcp.stdio.allowed_executables and passes unchecked arguments to StdioServerParameters in backend/chainlit/server.py. Because npx supports the -c argument, an attacker can execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the Chainlit process. If allowed_executables is unset, its None default is treated as allowing every executable. This issue is fixed in version 2.12.0.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
    Added CWE CWE-78
    Added Reference https://github.com/Chainlit/chainlit/blob/2.12.0/docs/security-advisory-2026-mcp.md#spl-2026-001--command-injection-via-mcp-stdio
    Added Reference https://github.com/Chainlit/chainlit/commit/0565fd0eccb915fce159929598b053ed79f6e0c9
    Added Reference https://github.com/Chainlit/chainlit/releases/tag/2.12.0
    Added Reference https://github.com/Chainlit/chainlit/security/advisories/GHSA-w3fx-mc44-mf6j
  • CVE Modified by 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    Aug. 25, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Reference https://github.com/Chainlit/chainlit/security/advisories/GHSA-w3fx-mc44-mf6j
    Added SSVC {'id': 'CVE-2026-45018', 'role': 'CISA Coordinator', 'options': [{'exploitation': 'poc'}, {'automatable': 'yes'}, {'technicalImpact': 'total'}], 'version': '2.0.3', 'timestamp': '2026-08-25T19:33:08.662498Z'}
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.