Is CVE-2026-82020 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-82020 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-82020?

Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.8, published 28 August 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Nous Research Hermes Agent 0.16.0 prior to 0.17.0.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-82020?

A patch was published on 2026-08-28: Fixed in version 0.17.0 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-82020 attacked?

It is attacked over the network.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-82020?

Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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.

CVE-2026-82020: Hermes Agent improper path restriction in file-write tooling

CVE-2026-82020 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.8 · Published 2026-08-28

Hermes Agent is an AI agent that executes file operations based on user-supplied instructions. A vulnerability in versions prior to 0.17.0 allows attackers to overwrite the credential store (auth.json) through crafted messages, bypassing path-protection guards. An attacker who can influence the messages processed by the agent can steal or tamper with credentials used for authentication.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-82020 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-82020 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-82020?: Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.8, published 28 August 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Nous Research Hermes Agent 0.16.0 prior to 0.17.0.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-82020?: A patch was published on 2026-08-28: Fixed in version 0.17.0 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-82020 attacked?: It is attacked over the network.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-82020?: Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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

Hermes Agent 0.16.0 and prior versions contain an improper path restriction vulnerability in the file-write tooling that enables unauthorized modification of the credential store (auth.json). The vulnerability arises from incomplete path-based protection guards that excluded auth.json from sensitive-path checks while other credential files were protected. An attacker who can influence ingested message content can craft malicious instructions to the agent's file-write functions (cp, mv, install, tee, or redirection) to overwrite the credential store without triggering approval gates. The agent's approval system used DANGEROUS_PATTERNS regex to block writes to sensitive targets, but the patterns were asymmetrically applied—redirection and tee operations were gated, but equivalent copy/move/install operations were not. Patches in 0.17.0 (commits 2b67e96 and da28d5d) extend DANGEROUS_PATTERNS to cover cp/mv/install operations against the full set of sensitive write targets including credential files.

Affected products

Nous Research Hermes Agent 0.16.0 prior to 0.17.0

Timeline

2026-08-28: disclosed
2026-08-28: patched: Fixed in version 0.17.0

References

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