{
 "public_id": "AIR-2026-0051",
 "incident_id": "2026-02-checkpoint-claude-code-project-files",
 "date_disclosed": "2026-02-25",
 "date_occurred": null,
 "title": "Caught in the Hook: RCE and API token exfiltration through Claude Code project files",
 "class": "responsible_disclosure",
 "attack_surface": "coding_agent",
 "initial_vector": "malicious_repository_workspace_config",
 "agent_capability_abused": [
  "lifecycle_hooks",
  "mcp_autostart",
  "environment_variable_handling"
 ],
 "target_product": "Claude Code",
 "target_vendor": "Anthropic",
 "autonomy_level": "semi_autonomous",
 "impact_realized": false,
 "impact_type": [
  "remote_code_execution",
  "credential_theft"
 ],
 "blast_radius": "Developers cloning and opening untrusted repositories with Claude Code",
 "cve": [
  "CVE-2025-59536",
  "CVE-2026-21852"
 ],
 "taxonomy": {
  "owasp_asi": [
   "ASI01",
   "ASI04",
   "ASI05"
  ],
  "mitre_atlas": [],
  "labels": [
   "trust_dialog_race",
   "hooks",
   "mcp_consent_bypass",
   "api_key_exfiltration"
  ]
 },
 "defense_present": "Claude Code startup trust dialog",
 "defense_bypassed": true,
 "fix_shipped": "Fixed across releases from August 2025; hooks issue fixed in 1.0.111 (October 2025); final CVE published January 2026",
 "primary_sources": [
  "https://research.checkpoint.com/2026/rce-and-api-token-exfiltration-through-claude-code-project-files-cve-2025-59536/"
 ],
 "verified_quote": "An attacker could place this configuration in a malicious repository: When a victim clones the repository and runs claude, their API key would be sent directly to the attacker's server - before the victim decides to trust the directory.",
 "confidence": "high",
 "notes": "Authors Aviv Donenfeld and Oded Vanunu. Three mechanisms: repo-controlled .claude/settings.json hooks executing before the trust dialog completes, enableAllProjectMcpServers auto-initializing malicious MCP servers, and a malicious ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL intercepting API keys. CVSS 8.7. All patched before publication.",
 "risk_category": "security_fraud",
 "risk_secondary": [],
 "risk_subcategory": "Supply Chain Compromise",
 "risk_sub_secondary": [
  "Credential & Secret Theft",
  "Remote Code Execution & Sandbox Escape"
 ],
 "ai_entity": "generative",
 "agency": "agent_acted",
 "agency_debatable": false,
 "agency_reason": "repo-controlled hooks made Claude Code execute and exfiltrate tokens",
 "vector_family": "malicious_component",
 "vector_detail": "malicious_repository_workspace_config",
 "guardrail_kind": [
  "unknown"
 ],
 "guardrail_outcome": "silent",
 "xrefs": {
  "aiid": [],
  "atlas": [],
  "cve": [
   "CVE-2025-59536",
   "CVE-2026-21852"
  ],
  "ghsa": []
 },
 "primary_asi": "ASI01",
 "agent_framework": "claude_code",
 "model_provider": "anthropic",
 "model_name": "",
 "detection_mechanism": "external_researcher",
 "tool_access": "unknown",
 "financial_loss_band": "unknown",
 "eai_category": "supply_chain_vulnerabilities",
 "eai_domain": "tool_misuse",
 "eai_secondary": [
  "credential_theft",
  "privilege_escalation"
 ],
 "eai_reason": "subcategory: Supply Chain Compromise",
 "asi_curated": [
  "ASI01",
  "ASI04"
 ],
 "asi_scope": "in_scope",
 "asi_provenance": "curated_plus_rule",
 "asi_reason": "curated: ASI01,ASI04 | added ASI05 (impact=code_exec)",
 "submitted_by": "EAI Internal"
}