Compliance Impact

The vulnerability allows local attackers to perform path traversal and read arbitrary directory contents on the host system, exposing sensitive filenames and directory structures. This exposure of sensitive system information could potentially lead to violations of data protection standards and regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA, which require safeguarding sensitive and personal data from unauthorized access.

Since the vulnerability enables bypassing access constraints and exposing sensitive information, organizations using affected versions may face compliance risks related to confidentiality and data protection mandates.

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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-8770 is a Local Path Traversal and Security Policy Bypass vulnerability in the lsTool component of the Continue Core JSON-RPC server. The vulnerability occurs because the lsTool function does not enforce standard workspace boundary and security checks when handling user-provided directory paths.

This allows an attacker with local access to manipulate the dirPath argument to read arbitrary directory contents on the host system, such as sensitive directories like /etc/ or ~/.ssh/, bypassing access constraints.

The issue arises from inconsistent security enforcement: while other tools use a security check API (throwIfFileIsSecurityConcern) to validate paths, lsTool omits this check and overrides default protective blocklists, enabling unrestricted file enumeration.

An exploit can be performed by sending a malicious JSON-RPC request specifying an absolute path, which returns the full contents of that directory.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can expose sensitive system information by allowing an attacker with local access to read arbitrary directories on the host system.

• Disclosure of sensitive filenames and directory structures, such as configuration files or SSH keys.
• Bypassing security policies and access controls intended to protect sensitive data.
• Potentially aiding further exploitation by revealing system details that can be used to escalate privileges or compromise the system.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by sending a malicious JSON-RPC request to the Continue Core server on TCP port 3000, specifying an absolute path such as /etc. If the server returns the full contents of the specified directory, it confirms the vulnerability.

An example approach is to use a Python script that crafts and sends such a JSON-RPC request targeting the lsTool component to enumerate directory contents.

Monitoring network traffic for JSON-RPC requests on TCP port 3000 that include suspicious absolute paths can also help detect exploitation attempts.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include restricting local access to the Continue Core JSON-RPC server, especially on TCP port 3000, to trusted users only.

Apply available patches or upgrade the @continuedev/core npm package to a version where this vulnerability is fixed.

Implement or enforce security checks similar to the throwIfFileIsSecurityConcern API in the lsTool component to validate and restrict directory paths.

Monitor logs and network traffic for suspicious directory enumeration attempts and block or alert on such activity.

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