Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
PsySH could run a configuration file from the directory where it is started. If an attacker can place that file in a shared or writable directory, and an administrator later starts PsySH there, attacker code may run with the administrator’s permissions. This is mainly a local or shared-environment privilege escalation risk.
Executive priority
Treat as a targeted local privilege escalation issue, not an internet-scale emergency. Prioritize developer, CI, and operations systems where privileged users run PHP debugging tools in writable directories.
Technical view
Before PsySH 0.11.23 and 0.12.19, startup behavior automatically loaded `.psysh.php` from the current working directory. This CWD configuration poisoning issue maps to CWE-427 and can produce arbitrary code execution in the victim user context. Downstream tools embedding PsySH, including Laravel Tinker, may inherit exposure under the same conditions.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on developer workstations, servers, CI runners, or operations environments where PsySH or embedded consumers are launched from writable project, build, temporary, or shared directories.
Exploitation context
The attacker needs local write access to a directory that a victim later uses as the working directory when launching PsySH. User interaction is required. The source bundle does not indicate known active exploitation or CISA KEV listing.
Researcher notes
The key condition is unsafe trust in CWD-loaded configuration. Impact depends on write access, victim working directory, and victim privileges. Sources name patched versions but provide no evidence of remote exploitation or active abuse.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade PsySH to 0.11.23 or 0.12.19, depending on the installed branch.
- Update downstream dependencies that bundle or invoke PsySH after reviewing vendor guidance.
- Avoid launching PsySH or Laravel Tinker with elevated privileges from writable directories.
- Restrict write permissions on shared project, build, and temporary directories used by privileged users.
- Review vendor advisory and release notes before applying changes in production environments.
Validation and detection
- Inventory applications and tooling that depend on PsySH, including Laravel Tinker usage.
- Check dependency manifests and lockfiles for vulnerable PsySH version ranges.
- Identify privileged accounts or CI jobs that launch PsySH-related tooling.
- Review writable directories used as working directories by privileged operators or automation.
- Confirm upgraded environments report PsySH 0.11.23, 0.12.19, or later.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-427: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-25129 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.7 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H0.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.7MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/bobthecow/psysh/security/advisories/GHSA-4486-gxhx-5mg7CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/bobthecow/psysh/releases/tag/v0.11.23CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/bobthecow/psysh/releases/tag/v0.12.19CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Uncontrolled Search Path Element
Uncontrolled Search Path Element represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
