{
  "schema_version": "1.6.0",
  "id": "ACVE-2026-0506",
  "aliases": [],
  "published": "2026-02-07T00:00:00Z",
  "modified": "2026-09-22T00:00:00Z",
  "summary": "Claude Cowork, asked to organise a desktop, ran a recursive delete on a folder it believed was empty and removed about fifteen years of family photos; they were restored from iCloud.",
  "details": "## What\n\nThe operator asked the agent to organise his wife's desktop and reorganise the photos on it. The agent ran a recursive delete on a folder it had judged to be empty. The folder held roughly fifteen years of family photographs. The photos were recovered from iCloud.\n\n## Detection\n\nNot matched: Claude Cowork's settings are not discovered by the lockfile. Recorded from the operator's own post and as reported by Futurism. Not recreated in a lab.\n\n## Fix\n\nFile deletion by an agent needs confirmation, and a recursive delete needs a person to look at the target first.",
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "AgentHarness",
        "name": "claude-cowork"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "type": "SEMVER",
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://x.com/Nick_Davidov/status/2020151363229900835"
    },
    {
      "type": "ARTICLE",
      "url": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/claude-wife-photos"
    }
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "severity": "MODERATE",
    "acve": {
      "specVersion": 1,
      "status": "candidate",
      "kind": "behavioural",
      "vulnClasses": [
        "over-privileged-combination"
      ],
      "cwe": [
        "CWE-693"
      ],
      "noCveReason": "No code defect: the harm arises from the agent pursuing its goal in this configuration.",
      "cveBoundary": "behavioural",
      "threat": {
        "attacker": "user",
        "vector": "unsafe-default",
        "outcome": "file-write"
      },
      "evidence": [
        {
          "kind": "incident",
          "url": "https://x.com/Nick_Davidov/status/2020151363229900835"
        }
      ],
      "fix": {
        "summary": "Confirm file deletion; never let an agent run a recursive delete without a person seeing the target.",
        "actions": [
          {
            "type": "reconfigure",
            "target": "agent.approval",
            "to": "ask",
            "why": "The delete ran on a folder the agent had misjudged as empty."
          }
        ]
      },
      "exposure": {
        "harness": {
          "value": "Claude Cowork (version not stated)",
          "any": false,
          "status": "confirmed",
          "source": "https://x.com/Nick_Davidov/status/2020151363229900835"
        },
        "model": {
          "value": "any",
          "any": true,
          "status": "unconfirmed",
          "source": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/claude-wife-photos"
        },
        "goal": {
          "value": "Organise the desktop and reorganise the photos on it",
          "stated": true,
          "status": "confirmed",
          "source": "https://x.com/Nick_Davidov/status/2020151363229900835"
        },
        "tools": {
          "value": "File-system access to the user's desktop, including delete",
          "status": "confirmed",
          "source": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/claude-wife-photos"
        },
        "approval": {
          "value": "Not stated by either source",
          "mode": "unknown",
          "status": "unconfirmed",
          "source": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/claude-wife-photos"
        },
        "inputControl": "operator",
        "agentAction": "The agent recursively deletes a folder it judged empty, removing about fifteen years of photographs.",
        "harm": "data-loss",
        "divergence": "shortcut"
      },
      "exploitation": {
        "status": "none-known",
        "checkedAt": "2026-09-22T00:00:00Z",
        "sources": [
          {
            "url": "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/claude-wife-photos",
            "type": "news",
            "note": "operator account; no attacker"
          }
        ],
        "kev": {
          "listed": false
        }
      },
      "claims": [],
      "reproducibility": {
        "status": "partial",
        "axesComplete": true,
        "componentsObtainable": null,
        "triggerPublished": false,
        "observableStated": true,
        "demonstrated": "reported-only",
        "missing": [
          "vulnerable components are not confirmed obtainable",
          "trigger not published"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}