GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm

GHSA-xc9g-j69q-37xw consciousness-explorer / sublinear-time-solver MCP export_state has an arbitrary file write

HIGH Published 2026-08-25 Modified 2026-08-25 Official page ↗
Aliases
CVE-2026-55609
Ecosystem
npm
Packages
consciousness-explorer, sublinear-time-solver
Severity
High
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Weaknesses
CWE-73
Reviewed
2026-08-25

Affected packages

• npm consciousness-explorer: < 1.1.2 → fixed in 1.1.2 • npm sublinear-time-solver: < 1.6.0 → fixed in 1.6.0

Description

Impact An arbitrary file write vulnerability (CWE-73, External Control of File Name or Path) exists in the `consciousness-explorer` component of `sublinear-time-solver`. The MCP `export_state` (and `import_state`) tool accepted a user-supplied `filepath` argument and passed it directly to `fs.writeFileSync` / `fs.readFileSync` without constraining the destination or rejecting path traversal. An attacker able to invoke the MCP tool could write or overwrite any file accessible to the server process (e.g. `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, application files), leading to integrity loss and potential service disruption. The same sink class was present in the main solver MCP server (`saveVectorToFile` / `loadVectorFromFile`). Affected versions • `consciousness-explorer` < 1.1.2 • `sublinear-time-solver` < 1.6.0 • `sublinear` (crates.io) < 0.2.0 Patches • `[email protected]` • `[email protected]` • `[email protected]` State/vector files are now confined to a dedicated directory (overridable via `$CONSCIOUSNESS_EXPLORER_STATE_DIR` / `$SUBLINEAR_SOLVER_VECTOR_DIR`), a basename-only contract is enforced (rejecting separators, `..`, NUL/control chars, hidden files, and Windows reserved names), and files are opened with `O_NOFOLLOW | O_CLOEXEC` mode `0o600`. Covered by 14 regression tests in `tests/consciousness/safe-path.test.mjs`. Breaking change: callers must now pass a basename, not an absolute path. Workarounds Do not expose the MCP server to untrusted clients; restrict `export_state` to trusted local users; run the server under a low-privilege account with a restricted working directory.

Related

Alias · CVE (1)

  • CVE-2026-55609 sublinear-time-solver is a Rust and WebAssembly library for solving asymmetric diagonally dominant systems in sublinear time. vulnerability

Weakness · CWE (1)

  • CWE-73 External Control of File Name or Path weakness

References