CVE-2026-55609

consciousness-explorer / sublinear-time-solver MCP export_state has an arbitrary file write

Affected versions

• consciousness-explorer < 1.1.2
• sublinear-time-solver < 1.6.0
• sublinear (crates.io) < 0.2.0

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.

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).

CVE-2026-55609 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (High). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.1.2, 1.6.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

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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.

1. What is CVE-2026-55609? CVE-2026-55609 is a high-severity security vulnerability in consciousness-explorer (npm), affecting versions < 1.1.2. It is fixed in 1.1.2, 1.6.0.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-55609? CVE-2026-55609 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-55609?
   • consciousness-explorer (npm) (versions < 1.1.2)
   • sublinear-time-solver (npm) (versions < 1.6.0)
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-55609? Yes. CVE-2026-55609 is fixed in 1.1.2, 1.6.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-55609 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-55609 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-55609 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-55609?
   • Upgrade consciousness-explorer to 1.1.2 or later
   • Upgrade sublinear-time-solver to 1.6.0 or later