CVE-2026-42249

Remote Code Execution in Ollama via Update Mechanism

Published Apr 29, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 7.7 High EPSS 1.0% KEV · Not listed
Description
Ollama for Windows contains a Remote Code Execution vulnerability in its update mechanism due to improper handling of attacker‑controlled HTTP response headers. When downloading updates, the application constructs local file paths using values derived from HTTP headers without validation. These values are passed directly to filepath.Join, allowing path traversal sequences (../) to be resolved and enabling files to be written outside the intended update staging directory.
An attacker who can influence update responses can exploit this flaw to write arbitrary executables to attacker‑chosen locations accessible to the current user, including the Windows Startup directory. This allows execution of arbitrary executables.

Critically, when chained with CVE‑2026‑42248 (Missing Signature Verification for Updates), an attacker can deliver malicious payloads that are written to sensitive locations and executed automatically. Because Ollama for Windows performs silent automatic updates and executes staged binaries without user interaction, this results in automatic and persistent code execution without user awareness.

Maintainers of this project were notified early about this vulnerability, but didn't respond with the details of vulnerability or vulnerable version range. Versions from 0.12.10 to 0.17.5 were tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Microsoft
Microsoft windows
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:ollama:ollama:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Microsoft
Microsoft windows
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'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Ollama
Ollama ollama
Vendors & Products Ollama
Ollama ollama
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Ollama for Windows contains a Remote Code Execution vulnerability in its update mechanism due to improper handling of attacker‑controlled HTTP response headers. When downloading updates, the application constructs local file paths using values derived from HTTP headers without validation. These values are passed directly to filepath.Join, allowing path traversal sequences (../) to be resolved and enabling files to be written outside the intended update staging directory. An attacker who can influence update responses can exploit this flaw to write arbitrary executables to attacker‑chosen locations accessible to the current user, including the Windows Startup directory. This allows execution of arbitrary executables. Critically, when chained with CVE‑2026‑42248 (Missing Signature Verification for Updates), an attacker can deliver malicious payloads that are written to sensitive locations and executed automatically. Because Ollama for Windows performs silent automatic updates and executes staged binaries without user interaction, this results in automatic and persistent code execution without user awareness. Maintainers of this project were notified early about this vulnerability, but didn't respond with the details of vulnerability or vulnerable version range. Versions from 0.12.10 to 0.17.5 were tested and confirmed as vulnerable, other versions were not tested but might also be vulnerable.
Title Remote Code Execution in Ollama via Update Mechanism
Weaknesses CWE-22
CWE-494
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 7.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
CERT-PL
Published
Updated
Apr 29, 2026, 1:20 PM
Reserved
Apr 25, 2026, 11:31 AM
Status
Analyzed
Published
Apr 29, 2026, 12:16 PM
Modified
Nov 11, 2026, 9:10 PM