QWED: Authenticated Remote Code Execution via Unsafe SymPy `parse_expr()`
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-94.
Summary
QWED is open-source AI verification infrastructure for deterministic verification of LLM outputs, tool calls, code, schemas, and agent state before production execution. Prior to 5.1.2, the qwed package passes caller-controlled math expressions directly to SymPy parse_expr() without restricted global_dict and local_dict namespaces, allowing Python eval() to resolve builtins and execute arbitrary Python code in the API server process. In src/qwed_new/api/main.py, POST /verify/math is protected by get_current_tenant but accepts any valid tenant API key, reads the expression field, applies only a cosmetic re.sub(r'(\d)(()', r'\1*\2', expression) normalization, and passes the result to parse_expr(). In src/qwed_new/core/batch.py, POST /verify/batch sends math items through batch_service.create_job(), stores item.query verbatim, and _verify_item() passes VerificationType.MATH input to parse_expr() without sanitization. The default-enabled POST /auth/signup endpoint allows anyone to create a standard tenant account, POST /auth/api-keys issues an x-api-key, and either vulnerable path can then be used to read or write files, modify data, execute operating system commands, terminate the service, and compromise other tenants in a shared deployment. This issue is fixed in version 5.1.2.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QWED-AI | qwed-verification | before 5.1.2 | 5.1.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | qwed (PyPI) | before 5.1.2 | 5.1.2 | Patch available | GHSA-q27q-98j4-9pfv |
- qwed-verification VendorQWED-AI Affected before 5.1.2 Fixed in 5.1.2 Patch available CNA
- qwed (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 5.1.2 Fixed in 5.1.2 Patch available GHSA-q27q-98j4-9pfv
Remediation
- Fix · CNA qwed-verification (QWED-AI) Fixed in 5.1.2
- Fix · GHSA-q27q-98j4-9pfv qwed (PyPI) Fixed in 5.1.2 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-55585
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-q27q-98j4-9pfv
References
Other 5
- https://github.com/QWED-AI/qwed-verification/security/advisories/GHSA-q27q-98j4-9pfv
- https://github.com/QWED-AI/qwed-verification/pull/200
- https://github.com/QWED-AI/qwed-verification/commit/6066b68c0c4f4cc2c3771824822aaa864d082ef8
- https://github.com/QWED-AI/qwed-verification/commit/dc9d4db72ca4b4ae3f96d0e6a0c27a9e38a06f61
- https://github.com/QWED-AI/qwed-verification
More QWED-AI vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-40091 QWED-MCP: Unsafe SymPy `parse_expr()` Remote Code Execution via Unsanitized Math Expression Input CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-55585 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-55585 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-q27q-98j4-9pfv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences