Executive brief
Kiro CLI is a command-line tool for working with development projects. A flaw in how it searches for executables on Windows allows an attacker to place a malicious executable in a project directory, which gets executed when a user runs Kiro CLI in that directory, bypassing workspace trust protections. An unauthenticated attacker can achieve this remotely by distributing a maliciously crafted project.
Technical details
The vulnerability is an uncontrolled search path element (CWE-426) in Kiro CLI versions before 2.10.0 on Windows. When Kiro CLI starts in a directory, it resolves executable names by searching the current working directory before system paths, allowing an attacker to place a malicious executable in a project directory that will be executed instead of the legitimate system executable. The attack bypasses workspace trust protections and requires only that a local user starts Kiro CLI in a directory containing the malicious project. An unauthenticated attacker can distribute such projects to achieve arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the local user. The issue is fixed in version 2.10.0 and later.
Affected products
- Kiro CLI before 2.10.0
Timeline
- 2026-08-04: disclosed
- 2026-06-26: patched: Version 2.10.0 released