CVE-2026-77157
Tenable Plugin
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AI Threat Summary
CVE-2026-77157 is a moderate vulnerability with a CVSS score of 6.4 affecting the target software. Threat hunters should monitor for exploit attempts and apply vendor patches immediately.
Description
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.
Attack Chain
Attacker scans for vulnerable versions using version banners or PoC scanners
Attacker triggers CVE-2026-77157 vulnerability with a crafted request or payload
Vulnerability exploited to perform unauthorized actions on the target system
Depending on vulnerability type, attacker achieves data access, service disruption, or code execution
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
Indicators of Compromise
| Type | Value | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| user_agent | Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; exploit/1.0) |
Generic exploit scanner user agent pattern | |
| url | /api/vuln-endpoint?payload=<malicious> |
Exploit attempt against application endpoint — monitor access logs for anomalous params |
Remediation
Quick Facts
| CVE ID | CVE-2026-77157 |
| CVSS Score | 6.4 |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Published | 2026-10-22 |
| Exploited | No |
| CISA KEV | No |
| PoC | Not public |