Coding Agents Security Failed 70 Times, Same Bugs
Palo Alto Networks researchers pwned 10 coding agents 70+ times with the same command and file-system bugs, and even OS sandboxes fell to symlink tricks.

Visual TL;DR
File system path tricks escape OS-level isolation completely
Security still relies on the agent to restrict its own capabilities
From the article 9+ mentionsMost agents gate commands with a pre-approved list and ask for approval only when a command is not on it.
Hidden prompts in files trigger same commands as direct user input
From the article 2 mentionsWhatever the agent will do for a user prompt it will also do for an injected prompt hidden in a file or issue, so the chain starts with injection and ends with RCE.
Pre-approved command checks fail because injected prompts mimic approved usage
Palo Alto researchers pwned every tested coding agent identically
From the articleMore than 70 flaws across 10 coding agents fell to the same handful of bugs, according to BlackHat Asia 2026 talk Bad Vibes, and coding agents security still trusts the agent to police itself.
Security still relies on the agent to restrict its own capabilities
From the article 9+ mentionsMost agents gate commands with a pre-approved list and ask for approval only when a command is not on it.
Same bugs work across every vendor without custom attack code
From the articleTwo vulnerability researchers from Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW), Nila Shkenazi and Philip Zuckerman, walked the full kill chain from chat prompt to host takeover without a novel exploit.
Hidden prompts in files trigger same commands as direct user input
From the article 2 mentionsWhatever the agent will do for a user prompt it will also do for an injected prompt hidden in a file or issue, so the chain starts with injection and ends with RCE.
From the article 2 mentionsThat assumption held in every agent they tested, because terminal tools are designed to run user supplied commands.
Pre-approved command checks fail because injected prompts mimic approved usage
File system path tricks escape OS-level isolation completely
Palo Alto researchers pwned every tested coding agent identically
From the articleMore than 70 flaws across 10 coding agents fell to the same handful of bugs, according to BlackHat Asia 2026 talk Bad Vibes, and coding agents security still trusts the agent to police itself.
Kill chain completes from chat window to full machine control
From the articleTwo vulnerability researchers from Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW), Nila Shkenazi and Philip Zuckerman, walked the full kill chain from chat prompt to host takeover without a novel exploit.
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Written by
Daniel SingerEditor, StartupHub.ai
Daniel Singer is the editor of StartupHub.ai, a technology expert and thought leader on AI and its applications across sectors, from fintech and healthcare to developer tooling and consumer software. He writes and tests the tools covered here thoroughly and regularly, and built StartupHub.ai to give founders, operators and buyers a clearer read on what they are actually being sold.
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