CVE-2026-55607
Description
A flaw was found in Claude Code, an agentic coding tool, in its handling of worktrees. This vulnerability allowed the creation of specially named worktrees and navigation outside of the intended secure environment, leading to what is known as a 'git directory confusion attack'. By manipulating symbolic links and how git monitors file system changes, an attacker could overwrite important user files, potentially leading to unauthorized code execution on the user's system. This attack requires a user to interact with a malicious code repository.
Statement
This is an Important vulnerability in Claude Code, an agentic coding tool within OpenShift Lightspeed, stemming from a git directory confusion flaw. The vulnerability allows an attacker to overwrite user configuration files, leading to arbitrary code execution outside of sandbox restrictions. Exploitation requires a user to clone a malicious repository and then execute Claude Code against its contents.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options do not meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.1 | 8.8 | N/A |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | N/A |
| Attack Complexity | High | Low | N/A |
| Privileges Required | Low | None | N/A |
| User Interaction | Required | Required | N/A |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | N/A |
| Confidentiality | High | High | N/A |
| Integrity Impact | High | High | N/A |
| Availability Impact | High | High | N/A |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Integrity,Access Control
Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories; Modify Files or Directories; Bypass Protection Mechanism
An attacker may be able to traverse the file system to unintended locations and read or overwrite the contents of unexpected files. If the files are used for a security mechanism then an attacker may be able to bypass the mechanism.
Other
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Windows simple shortcuts, sometimes referred to as soft links, can be exploited remotely since a ".LNK" file can be uploaded like a normal file. This can enable remote execution.
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