@@ -59,6 +59,8 @@ expect(input).toHaveValue('a')
 
 ::: warning
 CDP session works only with `playwright` provider and only when using `chromium` browser. You can read more about it in playwright's [`CDPSession`](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-cdpsession) documentation.
+
+CDP is a privileged debugging API. It is available only when browser API write and exec operations are enabled through [`browser.api.allowWrite`](/config/browser/api#api-allowwrite), [`browser.api.allowExec`](/config/browser/api#api-allowexec), [`api.allowWrite`](/config/api#api-allowwrite), and [`api.allowExec`](/config/api#api-allowexec).
 :::
 
 ## Custom Commands
 
@@ -193,6 +193,8 @@ The `cdp` export returns the current Chrome DevTools Protocol session. It is mos
 
 ::: warning
 CDP session works only with `playwright` provider and only when using `chromium` browser. You can read more about it in playwright's [`CDPSession`](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-cdpsession) documentation.
+
+CDP is a privileged debugging API. It is available only when browser API write and exec operations are enabled through [`browser.api.allowWrite`](/config/browser/api#api-allowwrite), [`browser.api.allowExec`](/config/browser/api#api-allowexec), [`api.allowWrite`](/config/api#api-allowwrite), and [`api.allowExec`](/config/api#api-allowexec).
 :::
 
 ```ts
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Configure options for Vite server that serves code in the browser. Does not affe
 - **Type:** `boolean`
 - **Default:** `true` if not exposed to the network, `false` otherwise
 
-Vitest saves [annotation attachments](/guide/test-annotations), [artifacts](/api/advanced/artifacts) and [snapshots](/guide/snapshot) by receiving a WebSocket connection from the browser. This allows anyone who can connect to the API write any arbitrary code on your machine within the root of your project (configured by [`fs.allow`](https://vite.dev/config/server-options#server-fs-allow)).
+Vitest saves [annotation attachments](/guide/test-annotations), [artifacts](/api/advanced/artifacts) and [snapshots](/guide/snapshot) by receiving a WebSocket connection from the browser. This allows anyone who can connect to the API write any arbitrary code on your machine within the root of your project (configured by [`fs.allow`](https://vite.dev/config/server-options#server-fs-allow)). This option also gates privileged browser APIs that can write files indirectly, such as raw Chrome DevTools Protocol access through [`cdp()`](/api/browser/context#cdp).
 
 If browser server is not exposed to the internet (the host is `localhost`), this should not be a problem, so the default value in that case is `true`. If you override the host, Vitest will set `allowWrite` to `false` by default to prevent potentially harmful writes.
 
@@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ If browser server is not exposed to the internet (the host is `localhost`), this
 - **Type:** `boolean`
 - **Default:** `true` if not exposed to the network, `false` otherwise
 
-Allows running any test file via the UI. This only applies to the interactive elements (and the server code behind them) in the [UI](/guide/ui) that can run the code. If UI is disabled, this has no effect. See [`api.allowExec`](/config/api#api-allowexec) for more information.
+Allows running any test file via the UI. This applies to the interactive elements (and the server code behind them) in the [UI](/guide/ui) that can run the code. This option also gates privileged browser APIs that can execute code indirectly, such as raw Chrome DevTools Protocol access through [`cdp()`](/api/browser/context#cdp). See [`api.allowExec`](/config/api#api-allowexec) for more information.
@@ -531,19 +531,11 @@ export class PlaywrightBrowserProvider implements BrowserProvider {
     const page = this.getPage(sessionid)
     const cdp = await page.context().newCDPSession(page)
     return {
-      send(method, params) {
-        return cdp.send(method as any, params)
-      },
-      on(event, listener) {
-        return cdp.on(event as any, listener)
-      },
-      off(event, listener) {
-        return cdp.off(event as any, listener)
-      },
-      once(event, listener) {
-        return cdp.once(event as any, listener)
-      },
-    }
+      send: cdp.send.bind(cdp),
+      on: cdp.on.bind(cdp),
+      off: cdp.off.bind(cdp),
+      once: cdp.once.bind(cdp),
+    } as any // overloaded CDPSession type is too tricky in monorepo
   }
 
   async close(): Promise<void> {
 
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import type { BrowserCommand } from 'vitest/node'
+import type { BrowserServerCDPHandler } from '../cdp'
+
+export const _startV8Coverage: BrowserCommand<[]> = async (context) => {
+  const session: BrowserServerCDPHandler = await context.__ensureCDPHandler()
+  await session.send('Profiler.enable')
+  await session.send('Profiler.startPreciseCoverage', {
+    callCount: true,
+    detailed: true,
+  })
+}
+
+export const _takeV8Coverage: BrowserCommand<[]> = async (context) => {
+  const session: BrowserServerCDPHandler = await context.__ensureCDPHandler()
+  return session.send('Profiler.takePreciseCoverage')
+}
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { _startV8Coverage, _takeV8Coverage } from './coverage'
 import {
   _fileInfo,
   readFile,
@@ -13,6 +14,8 @@ export default {
   removeFile: removeFile as typeof removeFile,
   writeFile: writeFile as typeof writeFile,
   // private commands
+  __vitest_startV8Coverage: _startV8Coverage as typeof _startV8Coverage,
+  __vitest_takeV8Coverage: _takeV8Coverage as typeof _takeV8Coverage,
   __vitest_markTrace: _markTrace as typeof _markTrace,
   __vitest_groupTraceStart: _groupTraceStart as typeof _groupTraceStart,
   __vitest_groupTraceEnd: _groupTraceEnd as typeof _groupTraceEnd,
 
@@ -130,6 +130,27 @@ export function setupBrowserRpc(globalServer: ParentBrowserProject, defaultMocke
     )
   }
 
+  function isCdpAllowed(project: TestProject) {
+    return (
+      project.config.api.allowExec
+      && project.config.browser.api.allowExec
+      && project.vitest.config.api.allowExec
+      && project.vitest.config.browser.api.allowExec
+      && project.config.api.allowWrite
+      && project.config.browser.api.allowWrite
+      && project.vitest.config.api.allowWrite
+      && project.vitest.config.browser.api.allowWrite
+    )
+  }
+
+  function assertCdpAllowed(project: TestProject) {
+    if (!isCdpAllowed(project)) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Cannot use CDP because browser API write or exec operations are disabled. See https://vitest.dev/config/browser/api.`,
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
   function setupClient(project: TestProject, rpcId: string, ws: WebSocket) {
     const mockResolver = new ServerMockResolver(globalServer.vite, {
       moduleDirectories: project.config?.deps?.moduleDirectories,
@@ -300,6 +321,7 @@ export function setupBrowserRpc(globalServer: ParentBrowserProject, defaultMocke
                   ...args,
                 )
               },
+              __ensureCDPHandler: () => globalServer.ensureCDPHandler(sessionId, rpcId),
             },
             provider.getCommandsContext(sessionId),
           ) as any as BrowserCommandContext
@@ -377,10 +399,12 @@ export function setupBrowserRpc(globalServer: ParentBrowserProject, defaultMocke
 
         // CDP
         async sendCdpEvent(sessionId: string, event: string, payload?: Record<string, unknown>) {
+          assertCdpAllowed(project)
           const cdp = await globalServer.ensureCDPHandler(sessionId, rpcId)
           return cdp.send(event, payload)
         },
         async trackCdpEvent(sessionId: string, type: 'on' | 'once' | 'off', event: string, listenerId: string) {
+          assertCdpAllowed(project)
           const cdp = await globalServer.ensureCDPHandler(sessionId, rpcId)
           cdp[type](event, listenerId)
         },
 
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
-import type { CDPSession } from '@vitest/browser-playwright'
+import type { Profiler } from 'node:inspector'
 import type { CoverageProviderModule } from 'vitest/node'
 import type { V8CoverageProvider } from './provider'
-import { cdp } from 'vitest/browser'
 import { loadProvider } from './load-provider'
 
-const session = cdp() as CDPSession
 let enabled = false
 
-type ScriptCoverage = Awaited<ReturnType<typeof session.send<'Profiler.takePreciseCoverage'>>>
+type ScriptCoverage = Profiler.TakePreciseCoverageReturnType
+
+function triggerCommand(command: string, args: any[] = []): Promise<any> {
+  return (globalThis as any).__vitest_browser_runner__.commands.triggerCommand(command, args)
+}
 
 const mod: CoverageProviderModule = {
   async startCoverage() {
@@ -17,15 +19,11 @@ const mod: CoverageProviderModule = {
 
     enabled = true
 
-    await session.send('Profiler.enable')
-    await session.send('Profiler.startPreciseCoverage', {
-      callCount: true,
-      detailed: true,
-    })
+    await triggerCommand('__vitest_startV8Coverage')
   },
 
   async takeCoverage(): Promise<{ result: any[] }> {
-    const coverage = await session.send('Profiler.takePreciseCoverage')
+    const coverage: ScriptCoverage = await triggerCommand('__vitest_takeV8Coverage')
     const result: typeof coverage.result = []
 
     // Reduce amount of data sent over rpc by doing some early result filtering
 
@@ -306,6 +306,18 @@ export interface BrowserCommandContext {
     name: K,
     ...args: Parameters<BrowserCommands[K]>
   ) => ReturnType<BrowserCommands[K]>
+  /**
+   * Returns Vitest's cached CDP handler for the current tester RPC connection.
+   * This works similar to client `cdp()` API.
+   *
+   * Unlike `provider.getCDPSession`, this preserves CDP session state across
+   * multiple command calls from the same browser tester. This matters for
+   * stateful CDP domains such as `Profiler`, where `startPreciseCoverage` and
+   * `takePreciseCoverage` must run on the same CDP session.
+   *
+   * @internal
+   */
+  __ensureCDPHandler: () => Promise<any> // use `any` since type is messy
 }
 
 export interface BrowserServerStateSession {
 
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import path from 'pathe'
 import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
 import { rolldownVersion } from 'vitest/node'
 import { buildTestProjectTree } from '../../test-utils'
-import { instances, runBrowserTests, runInlineBrowserTests } from './utils'
+import { instances, provider, runBrowserTests, runInlineBrowserTests } from './utils'
 
 test('prints correct unhandled error stack', async () => {
   const { stderr } = await runBrowserTests({
@@ -218,3 +218,36 @@ test('prints source-mapped stack for optimized dependency', async () => {
     }
   }
 })
+
+test.runIf(provider.name === 'playwright')('cannot use cdp if write or exec is disabled', async () => {
+  const result = await runInlineBrowserTests({
+    'cdp.test.ts': `
+      import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
+      import { cdp, server } from 'vitest/browser'
+
+      test('cdp throws an error', async () => {
+        await cdp().send('Runtime.evaluate', { expression: '1 + 1' })
+      })
+    `,
+  }, {
+    browser: {
+      instances: [{ browser: 'chromium' }],
+      screenshotFailures: false,
+      api: {
+        allowExec: false,
+        allowWrite: false,
+      },
+    },
+  })
+  expect(result.errorTree({ project: true })).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+    {
+      "chromium": {
+        "cdp.test.ts": {
+          "cdp throws an error": [
+            "Cannot use CDP because browser API write or exec operations are disabled. See https://vitest.dev/config/browser/api.",
+          ],
+        },
+      },
+    }
+  `)
+})