Theregister Plugin4Shell: Zero-Click RCE Vulnerability in Major AI Coding Agents
Article Content
- •Plugin4Shell allows zero-click RCE in major AI coding agents.
- •The vulnerability affects millions, particularly in Fortune 500 companies.
- •Patches have been issued by some vendors, but others remain vulnerable.
A zero-click remote code execution vulnerability, named Plugin4Shell, affects major AI coding agents including Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, and Gemini. This vulnerability allows attackers to exploit a flaw in the SHA-pinning mechanism of trusted plugin marketplaces, enabling full access to sensitive data and systems without user interaction. The attack method involves silently replacing a trusted plugin with a malicious one, which is then auto-installed, compromising the agent and the host machine. The vulnerability impacts millions of users, particularly in enterprises, as almost 90% of Fortune 500 companies utilize Copilot. While Anthropic and OpenAI have issued patches, Google has deprecated Gemini CLI without a patch, and Microsoft has not addressed the flaw in Copilot. The security issue was reported to the vendors in June 2026. The exploit is significant as it represents a first-of-its-kind AI supply-chain attack targeting the distribution layer of AI agents.
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