CVE-2026-55609: Consciousness explorer Consciousness-explorer / Sublinear-time-solver MCP Export_state Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-xc9g-j69q-37xw",
  "modified" : "2026-08-25T18:35:32Z",
  "published" : "2026-08-25T18:35:32Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-55609" ],
  "summary" : "consciousness-explorer / sublinear-time-solver MCP export_state has an arbitrary file write",
  "details" : "### Impact\nAn 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.\n\nThe same sink class was present in the main solver MCP server (`saveVectorToFile` / `loadVectorFromFile`).\n\n### Affected versions\n- `consciousness-explorer` < 1.1.2\n- `sublinear-time-solver` < 1.6.0\n- `sublinear` (crates.io) < 0.2.0\n\n### Patches\n- `consciousness-explorer@1.1.2`\n- `sublinear-time-solver@1.6.0`\n- `sublinear@0.2.0`\n\nState/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`.\n\n**Breaking change:** callers must now pass a basename, not an absolute path.\n\n### Workarounds\nDo 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.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "consciousness-explorer"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.1.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "sublinear-time-solver"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.6.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/security/advisories/GHSA-xc9g-j69q-37xw"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/BruceJqs/public_exp/issues/32"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/issues/19"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/pull/20"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/commit/a701296e363192be863e79d788fa268095e3d229"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/commit/ea9a212b69e4449ec443fe088a7aec7546f70b4a"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ruvnet/sublinear-time-solver/releases/tag/v1.6.0"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-73" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-08-25T18:35:32Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}