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Arbitrary Code Execution in Language Servers for AWS Workspace MCP Configuration Handling

IdentifiersCVE-2026-12957CWE-501

CVE-2026-12957 is a high-severity improper trust boundary enforcement vulnerability in Language Servers for AWS before version 1.65.0 on all supported platforms, affecting Amazon Q Developer integrations. The issue arises from unsafe handling of workspace-controlled project configuration, specifically MCP server configuration files such as .amazonq/mcp.json. When a user opens a maliciously crafted workspace and trusts it when prompted, the language server may automatically load attacker-controlled configuration and execute commands defined within the project configuration files. Reported technical context indicates the spawned processes can inherit the developer’s environment, exposing credentials and tokens present in the session. The vulnerability therefore enables arbitrary command execution in the context of the local developer environment.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can result in arbitrary code execution on the developer workstation in the context of the affected user. Because the executed processes may inherit the user environment, impact can extend beyond local execution to disclosure and theft of sensitive material such as AWS credentials, cloud session tokens, API keys, and SSH agent access. This can enable follow-on compromise of cloud resources, unauthorized access to internal services, lateral movement, persistence, supply-chain abuse, and broader compromise of development environments.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

No workaround is reported as available. Until patched versions are deployed, users should avoid opening untrusted repositories or workspaces and should not trust suspicious projects when prompted by the IDE. Restricting or monitoring automatic component updates, reducing exposure of long-lived credentials in developer environments, and limiting inherited secrets in local sessions may reduce secondary impact, but the primary mitigation is to upgrade.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Language Servers for AWS to version 1.65.0 or later. AWS advisory content further recommends upgrading to Language Servers for AWS 1.69.0 or later and updating affected Amazon Q Developer IDE plugins to fixed releases that bundle the remediated language server. Existing installations may receive the updated language server automatically unless auto-update is blocked; reloading the IDE may trigger the update. Organizations using forked or derivative code should incorporate the upstream fixes.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
Amazon Web ServicesLanguage Servers For Awsapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

16 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

security weekNews
Jun 26, 2026
Amazon Q Flaw Enabled Cloud Credential Theft via Malicious Repositories - SecurityWeek

A high-severity vulnerability in Amazon Q Developer plugins/language server where workspace-embedded configuration files could be auto-executed without user permission, enabling attacker-controlled command execution and theft of cloud credentials and API keys from a developer environment.

Read more
the hacker newsNews
Jun 26, 2026
Amazon Q Developer Flaw Could Let Malicious Repos Run Code via MCP Configs

A high-severity flaw in Amazon Q Developer / Language Servers for AWS that allowed a malicious repository to define an MCP server via .amazonq/mcp.json, leading to command execution and theft of developer cloud credentials after the workspace was trusted.

Read more
wiz blogNews
Jun 26, 2026
Amazon Q Vulnerability: Compromise via MCP Auto-Execution | Wiz Blog

A high-severity arbitrary code execution vulnerability in the Amazon Q Developer Extension for VS Code caused by automatic loading and execution of workspace MCP server configurations without user consent, combined with inherited environment variables that could expose cloud credentials.

Read more
register securityNews
Jun 26, 2026
Amazon Q flaw let booby-trapped Git repos execute code, swipe cloud creds

A high-severity arbitrary command execution vulnerability in Amazon Q for Visual Studio Code caused by automatically loading and executing MCP server configurations from a repository's .amazonq/mcp.json file without user consent or workspace trust checks, potentially exposing cloud credentials and other secrets.

Read more
What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity9

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.