PraisonAI: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality
CVE-2026-40289 is a critical-severity missing authentication for critical functionality vulnerability in PraisonAI from MervinPraison, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected PraisonAI versions: < 4.5.139. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.43% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of PraisonAI you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| MervinPraison | PraisonAI | < 4.5.139 | Not stated |
| MervinPraison | praisonaiagents | < 1.5.140 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- NoneAvailability is not affected.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
PraisonAI is a multi-agent teams system. In versions below 4.5.139 of PraisonAI and 1.5.140 of praisonaiagents, the browser bridge (praisonai browser start) is vulnerable to unauthenticated remote session hijacking due to missing authentication and a bypassable origin check on its /ws WebSocket endpoint. The server binds to 0.0.0.0 by default and only validates the Origin header when one is present, meaning any non-browser client that omits the header is accepted without restriction. An unauthenticated network attacker can connect, send a start_session message, and the server will route it to the first idle browser-extension WebSocket (effectively hijacking that session) and then broadcast all resulting automation actions and outputs back to the attacker. This enables unauthorized remote control of connected browser automation sessions, leakage of sensitive page context and automation results, and misuse of model-backed browser actions in any environment where the bridge is network-reachable. This issue has been fixed in versions 4.5.139 of PraisonAI and 1.5.140 of praisonaiagents.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality
The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using libraries with authentication capabilities such as OpenSSL or the ESAPI Authenticator.
- When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to require strong authentication for users who should be allowed to access the data.
More Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities (CWE-306)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other vulnerabilities in PraisonAI
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
Recent Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities
- 8.6 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.3 Critical severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
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