CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-39424 — MaxKB is an open-source AI assistant for enterprise

Medium CVSS 5.3

MaxKB is an open-source AI assistant for enterprise. In versions 2.7.1 and below, the chat export feature is vulnerable to Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File. When an administrator exports the application chat history to an Excel file (.xlsx) via the /admin/api/workspace/{workspace_id}/application/{application_id}/chat/export endpoint, strings starting with formula characters are written directly without proper sanitization. Opening this file in spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel can lead to Arbitrary Code Execution (RCE) on the administrator's workstation via Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). The issue is a variant of CVE-2025-4546, which fixed the exact same pattern in apps/dataset/serializers/document_serializers.py but missed the application chat export sink. This issue has been fixed in version 2.8.0.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.3 (4.0)
Published
2026-04-14
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-1236

Affected products

  • maxkb / maxkb

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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