---
title: "CVE-2026-19590: OpenAI Codex Desktop vulnerability"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-19590/
description: "CVE-2026-19590 (OpenAI Codex Desktop): OpenAI Codex Desktop for Windows and macOS could execute attacker-controlled Git hooks because automated Git…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2026-09-01
date_modified: 2026-10-21
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2026-19590"
kev: false
cvss: 7.3
epss: 0.00108
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2026-19590: OpenAI Codex Desktop vulnerability

**Signal:** Normal patch cycle. No exploitation signal; fix it in your next routine update if you are affected. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 0.1% , percentile 1: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.1% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 1% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Needs local access needed. Lower urgency for most teams unless an attacker could already run code on the machine.
- Editorial verdict: Patch this week. GitSpawn: Repo Git Config Runs Code in AI Coding Agents — Update your coding agents this week and never point one at a repository that arrived as files until you have read its .git/config; ordinary clones are not affected, and no attacks have been reported.

## What it is

OpenAI Codex Desktop for Windows and macOS could execute attacker-controlled Git hooks because automated Git operations trusted the repository's local core.hooksPath setting. If a user opens an attacker-prepared repository whose preserved .git/config points core.hooksPath to an attacker-controlled directory, Codex can run a malicious hook while processing the repository. The hook executes outside Codex's command sandbox, without user approval, and with the user's privileges, allowing it to read, change, or delete the user's files and access other resources available to the user's account. An ordinary Git clone does not preserve the attacker-controlled repository-local configuration required for exploitation.

## Affected products (CVE record)

- OpenAI Codex Desktop: 260202.0859 <= 26.513.31313
- OpenAI Codex Desktop: 26.304.38 <= 26.513.40821
- OpenAI Codex Desktop (Microsoft Store package): 26.304.38.0 <= 26.513.4821.0

## Severity

- CISA-ADP CVSS 3.1: 7.3 `CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none , automatable no , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.11% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 1.

## Sources

- [CVE.org record CVE-2026-19590](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-19590)
- [NVD entry CVE-2026-19590](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-19590)
- [github.com](https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/22843)

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Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-19590/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt