CVE-2026-109437

Cognition < 0.13.0 Unauthenticated RCE via Local Shell Backend

Published Oct 19, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 9.2 Critical EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
Cognition before 0.13.0 contains an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability due to defaulting its agent sandbox backend to local execution and shipping no authentication on its REST/SSE API. Attackers can create a session via POST /sessions and post a message via POST /sessions/{id}/messages without credentials, causing the Deep Agents ReAct loop to run attacker-directed shell commands through the local shell backend, resulting in remote code execution as the server process.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to Cognition 0.13.0 or later. Version 0.13.0 refuses the local sandbox backend unless COGNITION_ALLOW_UNSAFE_LOCAL_EXECUTION is explicitly set to true, and that setting defaults to false.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Cognicellai
Cognicellai cognition
Vendors & Products Cognicellai
Cognicellai cognition
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Cognition before 0.13.0 contains an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability due to defaulting its agent sandbox backend to local execution and shipping no authentication on its REST/SSE API. Attackers can create a session via POST /sessions and post a message via POST /sessions/{id}/messages without credentials, causing the Deep Agents ReAct loop to run attacker-directed shell commands through the local shell backend, resulting in remote code execution as the server process.
Title Cognition < 0.13.0 Unauthenticated RCE via Local Shell Backend
Weaknesses CWE-1188
CWE-306
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

cvssV4_0

{'score': 9.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
VulnCheck
Published
Updated
Oct 23, 2026, 1:28 PM
Reserved
Oct 12, 2026, 3:52 PM
Status
Deferred
Published
Oct 19, 2026, 7:17 PM
Modified
Oct 20, 2026, 5:17 PM