High Injection

CVE-2026-40156 — PraisonAI Affected by Implicit Execution of Arbitrary Code via Automatic `tools.py` Loading

PraisonAI is a multi-agent teams system. Prior to 4.5.128, PraisonAI automatically loads a file named tools.py from the current working directory to discover and register custom agent tools. This loading process uses importlib.util.spec_from_file_location and immediately executes module-level code via spec.loader.exec_module() without explicit user consent, validation, or sandboxing. The tools.py file is loaded implicitly, even when it is not referenced in configuration files or explicitly requested by the user. As a result, merely placing a file named tools.py in the working directory is sufficient to trigger code execution. This behavior violates the expected security boundary between user-controlled project files (e.g., YAML configurations) and executable code, as untrusted content in the working directory is treated as trusted and executed automatically. If an attacker can place a malicious tools.py file into a directory where a user or automated system (e.g., CI/CD pipeline) runs praisonai, arbitrary code execution occurs immediately upon startup, before any agent logic begins. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.5.128.

Published Apr 10, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Low

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.

How the score was calculated

EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+2
Technical severity (high)+6
CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation

Not confirmed

Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.

EPSS FIRST

0.23%

ahead of 13% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026

Affects

MervinPraison

PraisonAI and 1 more

CVSS base

7.8

High · 2 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation

Proof of concept

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

can an attacker script the kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Total

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (MervinPraison PraisonAI, Praison Praisonai).
No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (injection), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
MervinPraison	PraisonAI	version < 4.5.128	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Praison	Praisonai	< 4.5.128	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector

Local

Attack complexity

Low

Privileges required

None

User interaction

Required

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
7.8	CVSS 3.1	High	1.8	5.9	security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8	CVSS 3.1	High	—	—	GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-94 · Code Injection

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.23%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
Look for parameters with command/query metacharacters and unexpected child processes of the service.

endpoint telemetry (EDR)application logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
Affected products added · mervinpraison/praisonai
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
SSVC assessment updated
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Record published
Oct 13, 2026
CVSS changed · 7.8
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · → Analyzed
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record created in this database
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVE published
Apr 10, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

1 on the record

github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/security/advisories/GHSA-2g3w-cpc4-chr4
Vendor Advisory, x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

MervinPraison
every CVE for this vendor

Injection
same class

CWE-94
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

Critical CVE-2026-57118 PraisonAI AgentTeam.launch exposes unauthenticated remote agent listing and invocation endpoints 3d
Critical CVE-2026-62176 PraisonAI: Code Injection via f-string Interpolation in Deploy API Server Generation 8d
High CVE-2026-61446 PraisonAI before 1.6.78 Remote Code Execution via Plugin Auto-Discovery Jul 15, 2026
High CVE-2026-61443 PraisonAI before 1.6.78 Remote Code Execution via SkillTools Jul 15, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-61440 PraisonAI Platform before 0.1.9 Authorization Bypass via Label Endpoints Jul 15, 2026
High CVE-2026-61430 PraisonAI before 1.6.78 DNS Rebinding SSRF via web_crawl Jul 15, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-40156 is "PraisonAI Affected by Implicit Execution of Arbitrary Code via Automatic `tools.py` Loading", rated High. It affects PraisonAI (MervinPraison); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.23% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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