2026-10-13-codex-typing-into-an-escalated-terminal-now-needs-approval-by-default-from-0-158

Typing into an escalated terminal now needs approval by default from 0.158.0. When the agent writes to the stdin of a running process, Codex now compares the process’s retained launch permissions and the current policy and asks for review when the process runs with a sandbox bypass, additional agent permissions, or policy that drifted since launch (https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/rust-v0.162.1/codex-rs/core/src/unified_exec/stdin_approval.rs#L1-L5 and L190-L203); runtime-only grants such as plugin metrics no longer trigger it (#48073). Empty polls and non-TTY Ctrl-C are exceptions; not every stdin call is reviewed. Before 0.158.0, a process approved once to run outside the sandbox, such as a shell or REPL, accepted further typed input without review. With auto-review on, Guardian reviews these WriteStdin actions like other approvals. 0.161.0 adds that an approved filesystem escalation can grant broader writes “while retaining the sandbox, denied reads, and network policy” and tracks escalated terminals so later write_stdin calls still need review (#49353), and binds grants to the turn that requested them so background code-mode cells keep their own permissions (#49880).

Channel: tagged-release. Half: both. Date: 2026-09-28 (0.158.0); 2026-10-07 (0.161.0).

Operator consequence: Expect more prompts, or more auto-review calls, in sessions that drive interactive escalated processes (ssh sessions, database shells, REPLs); this is a deliberate gate, not noise. App-server clients and scripts that pipe input into escalated terminals must now handle an approval request. On 0.161.0 and later, approving an escalation such as a git pull can widen writes without dropping deny-read globs over secrets.

Receipt

• https://github.com/openai/codex/releases/tag/rust-v0.158.0
• https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/47799
• https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/rust-v0.162.1/codex-rs/core/src/unified_exec/stdin_approval.rs#L190-L203
• https://github.com/openai/codex/blob/rust-v0.162.1/codex-rs/features/src/lib.rs#L1291-L1294
• https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/49353
• https://github.com/openai/codex/releases/tag/rust-v0.161.0