# CVE-2026-40516: HKUDS OpenHarness SSRF in web_fetch and web_search tools

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-40516-hkuds-openharness-ssrf-in-web-fetch-and-web-search-tools  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-04-17. Updated: 2026-07-14  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-40516 · Severity: high · CVSS 8.3 · Published 2026-04-17

OpenHarness, an AI agent framework, contains a security flaw in its web search and data retrieval tools. An attacker can trick the AI agent into accessing internal network services, cloud metadata, or local files that should be private. This could lead to the exposure of sensitive internal data or administrative interfaces that are not intended to be accessible from the internet.

Technologies: [HKUDS OpenHarness](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/openharness). Vendors: [HKUDS](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/hkuds).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-40516 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-40516 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-40516?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.3, published 17 April 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** HKUDS OpenHarness before commit bd4df81f634f8c7cddcc3fdf7f561a13dcbf03ae.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-40516?** A patch was published on 2026-04-11: Fix merged into main branch via commit bd4df81 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-40516 attacked?** It is attacked over the network or with local access, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-40516?** Check whether you run HKUDS OpenHarness at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

A Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability exists in OpenHarness's built-in web_fetch and web_search tools due to insufficient validation of target URLs. The tools utilized the httpx library to fetch attacker-influenced endpoints, including following redirects, without restricting access to loopback (localhost), RFC1918 (private), or link-local addresses. An attacker can influence an agent session to invoke these tools against internal services or cloud metadata endpoints (e.g., IMDS) to retrieve sensitive response bodies. The vulnerability was addressed in commit bd4df81 by implementing a network guard that validates outbound targets and re-validates every redirect hop.

## Affected products

- HKUDS OpenHarness before commit bd4df81f634f8c7cddcc3fdf7f561a13dcbf03ae

## Timeline

- 2026-04-09: disclosed: Initial pull request submitted by researcher
- 2026-04-11: patched: Fix merged into main branch via commit bd4df81
- 2026-04-17: advisory: CVE published and NVD entry created

## References

- [https://github.com/HKUDS/OpenHarness/commit/bd4df81f634f8c7cddcc3fdf7f561a13dcbf03ae](https://github.com/HKUDS/OpenHarness/commit/bd4df81f634f8c7cddcc3fdf7f561a13dcbf03ae)
- [https://github.com/HKUDS/OpenHarness/pull/92](https://github.com/HKUDS/OpenHarness/pull/92)
- [https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openharness-ssrf-via-web-fetch-and-web-search](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/openharness-ssrf-via-web-fetch-and-web-search)

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