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Checkmarx ast-cli EUVDEUVD-2026-108271

| CVE-2026-77157 MEDIUM
Missing Support for Integrity Check (CWE-353)
2026-10-22 Checkmarx
6.3
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: Checkmarx
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Compromise download.checkmarx.com or MITM the download
  2. Delivery
    Replace served helper archive with malicious binary
  3. Exploit
    Developer or CI triggers ASCA/sca-realtime auto-update
  4. Execution
    ast-cli extracts archive without checksum check
  5. Impact
    Execute attacker binary as the invoking user

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Integrity check implementation
Exploitation Conditions

Two concrete conditions must both hold. First, the attacker must gain control of the archive served from 'download.checkmarx.com' - either by compromising that server/CDN or by man-in-the-middling the download - because ast-cli (<= 2.3.59) fetches and extracts the Vorpal ASCA engine and SCA Resolver without verifying a checksum (CWE-353). Second, a victim must trigger the auto-update download: a developer running the Checkmarx VSCode/JetBrains extension (which invokes ASCA) or running 'cx scan sca-realtime' on an affected version. Limiting factors that sharply reduce realistic risk: exploitation depends entirely on compromising the vendor's own distribution endpoint (a high, attacker-uncontrolled barrier), it requires user/CI action to invoke the scan, and only versions <= 2.3.59 are affected - 2.3.60 adds published SHA-256 verification before extraction.

Impact

This is a high-impact-but-low-probability issue whose raw CVSS 6.4 (medium) overstates practical risk in one direction and the vector mislabels the barrier in another. The impact metrics (C:H/I:H/A:H) are justified because successful exploitation yields arbitrary code execution on a developer machine or CI runner. However, the exploitation precondition is severe: the attacker must compromise Checkmarx's own download infrastructure ('download.checkmarx.com') or successfully MITM the download, which is a well-defended, high-value target - this is what drives AC:H and matches the CWE-353 missing-integrity-check root cause. No EPSS score is provided in the input, there is no CISA KEV listing, and no PoC or exploit reference is present (the only references are the project repo and the GHSA advisory), so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' The vuln.today decision label is 'this_month,' i.e. patch on a normal cadence rather than an emergency. One signal conflict to flag: the supplied CVSS vector uses PR:H, but the real barrier is not privileges on the victim host - it is control of the vendor's served archive, which is better modeled as attack complexity; verify metric intent with the vendor. Net: real but conditional, bounded by a supply-chain compromise that most threat actors cannot achieve, so it is a scheduled-patch priority, not a drop-everything one.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who has compromised 'download.checkmarx.com' (or can MITM the TLS download) replaces the served Vorpal ASCA / SCA Resolver archive with one containing a malicious binary. The next time a developer uses the Checkmarx VSCode/JetBrains extension or runs 'cx scan sca-realtime' on an affected ast-cli (<= 2.3.59), the auto-update flow downloads, extracts, and executes the attacker's binary without any checksum verification. No public exploit code or PoC reference is present in the supplied data.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 22, 2026

Checkmarx ast-cli through 2.3.59 fetches the Vorpal ASCA real-time engine and SCA Resolver helper binaries from download.checkmarx.com during its auto-update flow and extracts and executes them without verifying a checksum, so an attacker who could substitute the served archive could get an arbitrary binary executed on developer machines and CI runners. Triggering the vulnerable path requires either a developer using the Checkmarx VSCode/JetBrains extension (which invokes ASCA) or someone running 'cx scan sca-realtime' on an affected version, and exploitation further requires control of the vendor's download endpoint or interception of the download - a high, attacker-uncontrolled barrier reflected in the elevated attack complexity. The vendor has released 2.3.60, which verifies the download against a published SHA-256 checksum before extraction; no public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis and the issue is not confirmed actively exploited (CISA KEV), placing it in the this_month priority bucket.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: Checkmarx ast-cli 2.3.60, which verifies the Vorpal ASCA and SCA Resolver downloads against a published SHA-256 checksum before extraction. Upgrade every developer workstation and CI pipeline that runs the Checkmarx VSCode/JetBrains extensions or 'cx scan sca-realtime' to 2.3.60 or later, using the release at https://github.com/Checkmarx/ast-cli/releases/tag/2.3.60 and confirming the change described in advisory https://github.com/Checkmarx/ast-cli/security/advisories/GHSA-vf6p-x2fw-5hcg. The vendor states that no workarounds exist and that upgrading to a patched version is the only remediation, so organizations unable to upgrade immediately should treat the affected CLI builds as a supply-chain exposure on the hosts that invoke them rather than rely on configuration changes. Because exploitation depends on substitution of the archive served from download.checkmarx.com, additionally reviewing egress paths and caching/CDN trust for that download host on build infrastructure is consistent with the reported threat model.

Affected VersionsENISA

github.com/checkmarx/ast-cli 0 ≤2.3.59

Affected Packages

euvd github_com_checkmarx_ast_cli no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The root cause is CWE-353 (Missing Support for Integrity Check) in the Go-based Checkmarx ast-cli (package go/github.com/checkmarx/ast-cli). ast-cli maintains an auto-update mechanism that pulls two helper artifacts - the Vorpal ASCA real-time scanning engine and the SCA Resolver - as archives from download.checkmarx.com, then extracts and runs their contents locally. Before the fix, nothing tied the fetched archive to an expected digest, so the trust boundary rested entirely on the integrity of the distribution host and the transport: whoever could replace the served archive (by compromising the server or CDN, or by man-in-the-middle position on the download) could place an arbitrary binary that ast-cli would unpack and execute with the privileges of the invoking developer or CI job, with no signature or hash comparison to fail. The fix adds verification of the download against a published SHA-256 checksum prior to extraction. The vulnerable code path is not reached by ordinary scanning alone; it is initiated when the Checkmarx VSCode or JetBrains extension drives ASCA, or when 'cx scan sca-realtime' is invoked, which is why the assessed vector includes user interaction. Only versions through 2.3.59 are affected; 2.3.60 is the first release carrying the integrity check.

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Severity by source

Vendor (Checkmarx) PRIMARY 6.3 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
vuln.today AI 7.5 HIGH

AC:H because the attacker must compromise or MITM the vendor's download endpoint; PR:N as no victim-host privileges are needed; UI:R since a developer/CI must invoke the scan; full C/I/A from code execution.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (Checkmarx).

CVSS VectorVendor: Checkmarx

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
Passive
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
None
Vulnerable system: Integrity
None
Vulnerable system: Availability
None
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
High
Subsequent system: Integrity
High
Subsequent system: Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

1
CVSS changed
Oct 22, 2026 - 19:23 NVD
6.4 (MEDIUM) 6.3 (MEDIUM)

DescriptionCVE.org

ast-cli downloads two helper binaries, the Vorpal ASCA real-time engine and the SCA Resolver, from "download.checkmarx.com" as part of its auto-update flow, triggered by the Checkmarx’s "VSCode/JetBrains" extensions and by cx scan "sca-realtime".

Prior to the fix, the downloaded archive was not verified against a checksum before extraction and execution. An attacker able to substitute the served archive could deliver an arbitrary binary that ast-cli would extract and execute the contents of the archive, since no integrity check was performed on the download.

Successful exploitation requires compromising "download.checkmarx.com" and replacing the served archive with one containing an attacker-controlled binary. If the served archive had been replaced that way, any developer machine or CI pipeline invoking ASCA (via Checkmarx's VSCode/JetBrains extensions) or cx scan "sca-realtime" on an affected version would have extracted and executed that binary in place of the intended download.

The download is now verified against a published SHA-256 checksum before extraction.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 97% exploitable
Prevalence
Low
niche developer security CLI used only by Checkmarx scanning customers
Social Media
1
Sightings
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.1%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

32
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

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