Ethical Hacking News
Untrusted repositories can turn Claude code into an attack vector, exposing enterprises to critical vulnerabilities and compromising broader cloud environments. This recent discovery highlights the need for increased vigilance and proactive measures to protect against emerging AI-driven threats.
A vulnerability was discovered in Anthropic's Claude Code AI coding assistant, allowing untrusted repositories to turn code into an attack vector. The vulnerabilities, CVE-2025-59536 and CVE-2026-21852, can be triggered by cloning and opening an untrusted project, bypassing trust controls and executing hidden shell commands. Attackers could pivot from a developer's workstation into shared enterprise cloud environments without visible warning, potentially exposing broader AI-driven workflows to unauthorized access. The incident highlights the need for security controls to evolve to match changing trust boundaries introduced by AI-powered coding tools.
In a recent report published by Check Point Research, a team of security experts revealed a critical vulnerability in Anthropic's Claude Code AI coding assistant. The findings highlighted the potential for untrusted repositories to turn Claude code into an attack vector, compromising not only individual developer workspaces but also broader enterprise cloud environments.
Anthropic's API Workspaces feature allows multiple API keys to share access to cloud-stored project files, making it a prime target for attackers seeking to exploit this vulnerability. The report identified two primary vulnerabilities: CVE-2025-59536 and CVE-2026-21852, which could be triggered by simply cloning and opening an untrusted project.
The most concerning aspect of these vulnerabilities is the ability to bypass trust controls and execute hidden shell commands, allowing attackers to pivot from a developer's workstation into shared enterprise cloud environments without visible warning. Moreover, the exploitation of these vulnerabilities could result in the theft of API keys, potentially exposing broader AI-driven workflows to unauthorized access.
The report notes that configuration files are no longer passive settings, as they can influence execution, networking, and permissions. This new understanding underscores the need for security controls to evolve to match the changing trust boundaries introduced by AI-powered coding tools like Claude Code.
Anthropic has since addressed these vulnerabilities by tightening trust prompts, blocking external tool execution, and restricting API calls until user approval. However, this incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential risks associated with relying on untrusted repositories or configurations in enterprise environments.
As AI integration deepens within development workflows, security controls must be reassessed to accommodate the new trust boundaries introduced by these tools. The exploitation of vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-59536 and CVE-2026-21852 highlights a pressing need for increased vigilance and proactive measures to protect against this emerging threat.
The recent discovery underscores the importance of considering not only individual security practices but also the broader implications of relying on untrusted repositories or configurations in enterprise environments. As AI-powered coding tools continue to shape the development landscape, it is essential that organizations prioritize robust security controls to mitigate the risks associated with these technologies.
Untrusted repositories can turn Claude code into an attack vector, exposing enterprises to critical vulnerabilities and compromising broader cloud environments. This recent discovery highlights the need for increased vigilance and proactive measures to protect against emerging AI-driven threats.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Untrusted-Repository-Exploits-A-New-AI-Driven-Threat-to-Enterprise-Security-ehn.shtml
https://securityaffairs.com/188508/security/untrusted-repositories-turn-claude-code-into-an-attack-vector.html
https://blog.checkpoint.com/research/check-point-researchers-expose-critical-claude-code-flaws/
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-59536
https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2025-59536/
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-21852
https://www.cvedetails.com/cve/CVE-2026-21852/
Published: Wed Feb 25 17:50:29 2026 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
