CVE-2026-25129Public exploit

Local privilege escalation via CWD config auto-load

Published Jan 30, 2026 · Updated Jan 30, 2026

Local privilege escalation in PsySH before 0.11.23 and 0.12.0 through 0.12.18 allows local users to execute code as a victim. At startup, the project-config loader implicitly executes .psysh.php from the current working directory without checking ownership or writability. Exploitation requires an attacker-writable directory to become the working directory when a more-privileged user launches PsySH, granting that user's permissions.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.29%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Local privilege escalation in PsySH before 0.11.23 and 0.12.0 through 0.12.18 allows local users to execute code as a victim. At startup, the project-config loader implicitly executes .psysh.php from the current working directory without checking ownership or writability. Exploitation requires an attacker-writable directory to become the working directory when a more-privileged user launches PsySH, granting that user's permissions.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-25129
Published
Jan 30, 2026
Updated
Jan 30, 2026
Vendor
bobthecow
Product
PsySH
Classifications
CWE-427, CAPEC-38, CAPEC-471, T1574
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 30, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 30, 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 0.11.23
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 0.12.0, < 0.12.19

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

bobthecow · PsySHversion=< 0.11.23; version=>= 0.12.0, < 0.12.19

Published CVSS scores

7.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
6.7GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-427Uncontrolled Search Path Element
CAPEC-38Leveraging/Manipulating Configuration File Search Paths
CAPEC-471Search Order Hijacking
T1574Hijack Execution Flow

Public exploit references

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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