A zero-day vulnerability in Cursor IDE allows executing arbitrary .exe files without user prompt, and remains unpatched over six months after disclosure to the vendor. This vulnerability poses a significant security risk to Cursor users, as an attacker with local access can execute malicious code silently. The vendor's lack of response raises concerns about responsible disclosure practices and user trust. The vulnerability was first reported by Mindgard on December 15, 2025, but Cursor closed the HackerOne report as 'Informative' before later reopening and confirming the issue. The exploit requires placing a malicious .exe named git.exe in the user's code folder, leveraging Windows' current directory search order.
Background
Cursor is an AI-powered code editor built on VS Code, designed to accelerate development with AI-assisted features. A zero-day vulnerability is a security flaw unknown to the vendor, leaving users exposed until a patch is issued. This issue involves Windows' behavior of searching the current directory for executables before checking the PATH, which can be exploited if the IDE invokes external tools like Git without specifying an absolute path.
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Discussion
Community comments show mixed views: some argue the vulnerability requires an attacker to already have file write access, downplaying its severity, while others consider the silent execution without user prompt a serious design flaw. There is consensus that the vendor's six-month silence is unacceptable.