{
 "public_id": "AIR-2025-0111",
 "incident_id": "2025-08-windsurf-spaiware-memory-persistence",
 "date_disclosed": "2025-08-22",
 "date_occurred": null,
 "title": "SpAIware in Windsurf Cascade: prompt injection writes itself into long-term memory for persistent exfiltration",
 "class": "research_demo",
 "attack_surface": "memory_store",
 "initial_vector": "indirect_prompt_injection_repo_content",
 "agent_capability_abused": [
  "memory_write",
  "auto_tool_invocation",
  "network_egress",
  "tool_invocation",
  "code_execution"
 ],
 "target_product": "Windsurf (Cascade agent)",
 "target_vendor": "Codeium / Windsurf",
 "autonomy_level": "semi_autonomous",
 "impact_realized": false,
 "impact_type": [
  "data_exfiltration",
  "persistence",
  "integrity_loss",
  "persistent_memory_poisoning",
  "remote_code_execution"
 ],
 "blast_radius": "all future chat sessions of an affected Windsurf user",
 "cve": [],
 "taxonomy": {
  "owasp_asi": [
   "ASI01",
   "ASI06",
   "ASI05"
  ],
  "mitre_atlas": [],
  "labels": [
   "memory_poisoning",
   "spaiware",
   "persistence",
   "no_approval_tool",
   "missing_approval"
  ]
 },
 "defense_present": "none - create_memory was invoked without user approval",
 "defense_bypassed": true,
 "fix_shipped": "none at time of publication; vendor unresponsive for three months",
 "primary_sources": [
  "https://embracethered.com/blog/posts/2025/windsurf-spaiware-exploit-persistent-prompt-injection/"
 ],
 "verified_quote": "persist instructions into future chat sessions",
 "confidence": "high",
 "notes": "Johann Rehberger, 22 Aug 2025. The Cascade create_memory tool ran without approval, so a single injection in a source file installs instructions that survive across sessions and keep exfiltrating - the writeup states it 'compromises confidentiality, integrity and availability of all future chat conversations'. Disclosed 30 May 2025; vendor largely unresponsive. This is the canonical memory-poisoning demo against a shipped developer product. Also reported as: 'Windsurf SpAIware: persistent prompt injection written into Cascade long-term memory'.",
 "risk_category": "security_fraud",
 "risk_secondary": [
  "privacy"
 ],
 "risk_subcategory": "Prompt Injection",
 "risk_sub_secondary": [
  "Remote Code Execution & Sandbox Escape",
  "Persistence & Covert C2"
 ],
 "ai_entity": "generative",
 "agency": "agent_acted",
 "agency_debatable": false,
 "agency_reason": "the injection wrote itself into Cascade memory with no approval",
 "vector_family": "indirect_prompt_injection",
 "vector_detail": "indirect_prompt_injection_repo_content",
 "guardrail_kind": [
  "none"
 ],
 "guardrail_outcome": "not_applicable",
 "xrefs": {
  "aiid": [],
  "atlas": [],
  "cve": [],
  "ghsa": []
 },
 "primary_asi": "ASI01",
 "agent_framework": "windsurf",
 "model_provider": "unknown",
 "model_name": "",
 "detection_mechanism": "external_researcher",
 "tool_access": "unknown",
 "financial_loss_band": "unknown",
 "eai_category": "data_and_memory_poisoning",
 "eai_domain": "reliability_and_observability",
 "eai_secondary": [
  "privilege_escalation",
  "data_exfiltration_channels",
  "confused_deputy"
 ],
 "eai_reason": "impact rule: data_and_memory_poisoning",
 "asi_curated": [
  "ASI01"
 ],
 "asi_scope": "in_scope",
 "asi_provenance": "curated_plus_rule",
 "asi_reason": "curated: ASI01 | added ASI06 (eai_category=data_and_memory_poisoning), ASI05 (impact=code_exec)",
 "submitted_by": "EAI Internal"
}