Remote agent access via spoofed display name
Published Jul 26, 2026 · Updated Jul 26, 2026
Authentication bypass in Nous Research Hermes Agent 2026.6.5 allows remote authenticated users to access an agent through the SimpleX gateway. The gateway adds the contact's self-asserted profile display name to SIMPLEX_ALLOWED_USERS candidates instead of relying only on a stable contact identity. Exploitation requires a display-name allowlist and message access to the gateway; upstream reports that only unreleased main-branch commits are affected, contradicting the CNA's 2026.6.5 claim.
Summary
What happened
Authentication bypass in Nous Research Hermes Agent 2026.6.5 allows remote authenticated users to access an agent through the SimpleX gateway. The gateway adds the contact's self-asserted profile display name to SIMPLEX_ALLOWED_USERS candidates instead of relying only on a stable contact identity. Exploitation requires a display-name allowlist and message access to the gateway; upstream reports that only unreleased main-branch commits are affected, contradicting the CNA's 2026.6.5 claim.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-17432
- Published
- Jul 26, 2026
- Updated
- Jul 26, 2026
- Vendor
- Nous Research
- Product
- Hermes Agent
- Classifications
- CWE-266, CWE-284, T1190, T1656
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 26, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=2026.6.5
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Hermes SimpleX sender allowlist collision reproductionproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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