HighCVE-2026-13745

    Arbitrary Code Execution in Gemini CLI via Untrusted Local .env Files Overriding GEMINI_CLI_HOME (CVE-2026-13745)

    Published Last modified Sources: OSV, CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    A vulnerability in the Gemini CLI prior to version 0.39.1 allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution by tricking a victim into starting the CLI within an untrusted directory. The vulnerability is triggered via untrusted .env files overriding GEMINI_CLI_HOME to load malicious configuration files and bypass folder trust prompts.

    Update Google Cloud Gemini CLI to version 0.39.1.

    Affected
    • Google Cloud Gemini CLI lt *..0.39.1
    Fixed in
    • Google Cloud Gemini CLI 0.39.1

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    7.7

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: Vendor (CNA), CVSS v4

    7.7

    CVSS v4

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: OSV, CVE.org

    0.7 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 51.2

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    High
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    85.79 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    7.7 Methodology
    CVSS v4

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    7.7
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.7 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    51.2
    High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: none known · automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 10 September 2026
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-829, CWE-15

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    A vulnerability in the Gemini CLI prior to version 0.39.1 allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution by tricking a victim into starting the CLI within an untrusted directory. The vulnerability is triggered via untrusted .env files overriding GEMINI_CLI_HOME to load malicious configuration files and bypass folder trust prompts.

    Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), cvelistv5, NVD (NIST)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    Google CloudGemini CLI
    • < 0.39.1
    • 0.39.1
    github actionsgoogle-github-actions/run-gemini-cli
    • v0.1.4
    • v0.1.5
    • v0.1.10
    • v0.1.16
    • v0.1.1
    • v0.1.3
    • v0.1.8
    • v0.1.14
    • v0.1.2
    • v0.1.7
    • v0.1.17
    • v0.1.21
    • v0.1.9
    • v0.1.15
    • v0.1.11
    • v0.1.19
    • v0.1.18
    • v0.1.13
    • v0.1.20
    • v0.1.6
    • v0.1.12
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    npm@google/gemini-cli
    • —
    • 0.40.0-preview.2
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-829Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere

      Base

      The product imports, requires, or includes executable functionality (such as a library) from a source that is outside of the intended control sphere.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-829

    • CWE-15External Control of System or Configuration Setting

      Base

      One or more system settings or configuration elements can be externally controlled by a user.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-15

    References & sources

    • github.comgoogle-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.22
    • github.comgoogle-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/security/advisories/GHSA-w…
    • github.comgoogle-github-actions/run-gemini-clipackage
    • github.comgoogle-gemini/gemini-cli/releases/tag/v0.39.1
    • redguard.chblog/2026/06/03/advisory-google-gemini-cli
    • pwned.infoarticles/homing-in-on-arbitrary-code-execution-within-gemini-cli
    • NVD (NIST)vuln/detail/CVE-2026-12537advisory

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Record modifiedf45cbf4e…

      CVSS V4.0: AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/U:Amber

      CVSS V4.0: before AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/U:Amber, after —

      Weakness type: CWE-15, CWE-829

      Description added or changed

      Show 13 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionchanged
      A vulnerability in the Gemini CLI and associated GitHub Action allowed an unprivileged attacker to achieve an arbitrary code execution in Gemini CLI via untrusted local .env files overriding GEMINI_CLI_HOME.
      A vulnerability in the Gemini CLI prior to version 0.39.1 allows attackers to achieve arbitrary code execution by tricking a victim into starting the CLI within an untrusted directory. The vulnerability is triggered via untrusted .env files overriding GEMINI_CLI_HOME to load malicious configuration files and bypass folder trust prompts.
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber
      CVSSremoved
      AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber
      —
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-15
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-829
      Weakness type (CWE)removed
      CWE-20
      —
      Weakness type (CWE)removed
      CWE-78
      —
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/13xxx/CVE-2026-13745.json">CVE-2026-13745</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli/releases/tag/v0.39.1
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.pwned.info/articles/homing-in-on-arbitrary-code-execution-within-gemini-cli/
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.redguard.ch/blog/2026/06/03/advisory-google-gemini-cli/
      Referenceremoved
      https://github.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.22
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://github.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/security/advisories/GHSA-wpqr-6v78-jr5g
      —

      Source identifier: f45cbf4e-4146-4068-b7e1-655ffc2c548c

    2. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: yes

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-13745","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-09-10T15:03:19.734151Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    3. Receivedf45cbf4e…

      CVSS V4.0: AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/U:Amber

      Weakness type: CWE-20, CWE-78

      Description added or changed

      Show 7 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      A vulnerability in the Gemini CLI and associated GitHub Action allowed an unprivileged attacker to achieve an arbitrary code execution in Gemini CLI via untrusted local .env files overriding GEMINI_CLI_HOME.
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Amber
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-20
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-78
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/13xxx/CVE-2026-13745.json">CVE-2026-13745</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/releases/tag/v0.1.22
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/google-github-actions/run-gemini-cli/security/advisories/GHSA-wpqr-6v78-jr5g

      Source identifier: f45cbf4e-4146-4068-b7e1-655ffc2c548c

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