Security Report: Unauthorized Directory Traversal in Codex

What version of Codex is running?

codex-cli 0.58.0

What subscription do you have?

Business Plan

Which model were you using?

gpt-5.1-codex

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 24.6.0 arm64 arm

What issue are you seeing?

Codex, when operating within a specific project context (e.g., ProjectA - a Next.js application), is performing file system operations that extend beyond the authorized project directory. Specifically:

• Expected Behavior: Codex should only access files within /path/to/projectA/
• Actual Behavior: Codex uses commands like grep to traverse and scan arbitrary directories across the entire operating system
• Scope Violation: No authorization has been granted for accessing files outside the current project scope

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Initialize Codex within a Next.js project (ProjectA)
2. Monitor file system access using system monitoring tools
3. Observe grep commands being executed with paths outside projectA/

Example of Unauthorized Access

# Expected (authorized) operation:
grep -r "pattern" /home/user/projectA/

# Observed (unauthorized) operation:
grep -r "pattern" /home/user/
grep -r "pattern" /

What is the expected behavior?

Codex should respect the user's scope. There are potentially huge implications for not doing so.

1. Data Exposure (Critical)

• Unauthorized access to sensitive files outside project scope
• Potential exposure of credentials, API keys, and configuration files
• Access to other projects' proprietary source code

1. Privacy Violation (High)

• Scanning of personal or confidential documents
• Violation of data segregation principles
• Potential compliance violations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)

1. Cross-Project Contamination (Medium-High)

• Risk of information leakage between unrelated projects
• Potential for unintended code or data correlation

1. System Reconnaissance (Medium)

• Ability to map the entire file system structure
• Identification of installed software and system configuration

Additional information

_No response_