High severity · published Apr 10, 2026
CVE-2026-40156
PraisonAI Affected by Implicit Execution of Arbitrary Code via Automatic `tools.py` Loading
7.8
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 11% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
PR
PraisonAI · MervinPraison
< 4.5.128 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40156
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-40156
Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/security/advisories/GHSA-2g3w-cpc4-chr4
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