Weakness (CWE)
CWE-78: OS Command Injection
The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command before it is sent to a downstream component.
How to prevent it (8 mitigations)
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Architecture and Design
If at all possible, use library calls rather than external processes to recreate the desired functionality.
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Architecture and Design, Operation
Run the code in a "jail" or similar sandbox environment that enforces strict boundaries between the process and the operating system. This may effectively restrict which files can be accessed in a particular directory or which commands can be executed by the software.
OS-level examples include the Unix chroot jail, AppArmor, and SELinux. In general, managed code may provide some protection. For example, java.io.FilePermission in the Java SecurityManager allows the software to specify restrictions on file operations.
This may not be a feasible solution, and it only limits the impact to the operating system; the rest of the application may still be subject to compromise.
Be careful to avoid CWE-243 and other weaknesses related to jails.
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Architecture and Design
For any data that will be used to generate a command to be executed, keep as much of that data out of external control as possible. For example, in web applications, this may require storing the data locally in the session's state instead of sending it out to the client in a hidden form field.
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Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
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Architecture and Design
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
For example, consider using the ESAPI Encoding control [REF-45] or a similar tool, library, or framework. These will help the programmer encode outputs in a manner less prone to error.
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Implementation
While it is risky to use dynamically-generated query strings, code, or commands that mix control and data together, sometimes it may be unavoidable. Properly quote arguments and escape any special characters within those arguments. The most conservative approach is to escape or filter all characters that do not pass an extremely strict allowlist (such as everything that is not alphanumeric or white space). If some special characters are still needed, such as white space, wrap each argument in quotes after the escaping/filtering step. Be careful of argument injection (CWE-88).
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Implementation
If the program to be executed allows arguments to be specified within an input file or from standard input, then consider using that mode to pass arguments instead of the command line.
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Architecture and Design
If available, use structured mechanisms that automatically enforce the separation between data and code. These mechanisms may be able to provide the relevant quoting, encoding, and validation automatically, instead of relying on the developer to provide this capability at every point where output is generated.
Some languages offer multiple functions that can be used to invoke commands. Where possible, identify any function that invokes a command shell using a single string, and replace it with a function that requires individual arguments. These functions typically perform appropriate quoting and filtering of arguments. For example, in C, the system() function accepts a string that contains the entire command to be executed, whereas execl(), execve(), and others require an array of strings, one for each argument. In Windows, CreateProcess() only accepts one command at a time. In Perl, if system() is provided with an array of arguments, then it will quote each of the arguments.
Source: MITRE CWE-78
5,327 results · Feed
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Critical 9.8
UpSnap - Unauthenticated Initial-Superuser Takeover Chains to Root RCE via wake_cmd
UpSnap is a wake on lan web app. Versions 4.4.1 through 5.3.5 are vulnerable to a missing-authentication / privilege-escalation chain in `pb.HandlerInitSuperuser` (`backend/pb/handlers.go:249`), reachable as `POST /api/upsnap/init-superuser`. The vulnerable c…
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Medium 6.1
PDF::WebKit versions through 1.2 for Perl allow OS command injection via a 2-arg open() of the output path in to_pdf and of stylesheet paths in _style_tag_for
PDF::WebKit versions through 1.2 for Perl allow OS command injection via a 2-arg open() of the output path in to_pdf and of stylesheet paths in _style_tag_for. to_pdf reads the generated PDF back from its path argument, and _style_tag_for reads each entry of …
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Critical 9.6
UpSnap vulnerable to Remote Code Execution via IP Field Template Injection in wake_cmd/shutdown_cmd
UpSnap is a wake on lan web app. Versions prior to 5.4.0 have an OS command injection vulnerability in the UpSnap’s device management functionality due to the presence of unsafe shell command template interpolation using the ip and the mac fields. User-contro…
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High 7.3
IBM Informix Wire Listener Vulnerable to Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution
IBM Informix Dynamic Server 14.10, 15.0, and 12.10 could allow an unauthenticated user to execute arbitrary commands with service account privileges on the system due to improper validation of user supplied input.
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High 7.8
IBM i Access Client Solutions (ACS) is Affected By Multiple Vulnerabilities
IBM i Access Client Solutions 1.1.2.0 through 1.1.9.13 could allow a local attacker to execute arbitrary code due to improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command.
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High 7.2
Security vulnerabilities have been found in IBM Verify Identity Access and IBM Security Verify Access
IBM Security Verify Access 10.0 through 10.0.9.2 and IBM Verify Identity Access 11.0 through 11.0.3 and IBM Verify Identity Access Container 11.0 through 11.0.3 contains a input validation vulnerability in the management interface that allows already privileg…
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High 8.8
IBM i is Affected By Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities [, ]
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands due to improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command.
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Critical 9.2
Shescape: Shell injection via unescaped parentheses on Windows with CMD
Shescape is a simple shell escape library for JavaScript. Prior to 2.1.14 and 3.0.1, getEscapeFunction in src/internal/win/cmd.js does not escape `(` and `)` when applications use the escape or escapeAll APIs on Windows with shell set to cmd.exe, or with shel…
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Medium 6.3
Shescape: Path disclosure on Unix with Zsh
Shescape is a simple shell escape library for JavaScript. Prior to 2.1.14 and 3.0.1, this impacts users of Shescape on Unix systems that explicitly configure shell to Zsh, or true when the default shell is Zsh, using the escape and escapeAll. The Zsh options …
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High 8.8
IBM i is Affected By Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities [, ]
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands due to improper neutralization of shell metacharacters.
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High 8.7
LXD arbitrary lxc.conf directive injection via NVIDIA instance configuration
An improper neutralization of special elements vulnerability in LXD's NVIDIA instance configuration handling allows an authenticated attacker to inject arbitrary configuration directives. By supplying newline characters within the 'nvidia.driver.capabilities'…
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High 7.1
IBM i is Affected By Multiple Vulnerabilities in the Debug Server
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to cause a denial of service due to improper neutralization of special elements in an OS command.
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Critical 9.8
IBM Db2 Mirror for i is vulnerable to OS command injection []
IBM Db2 Mirror for i 7.4, 7.5, and 7.6 could allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands due to improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command.
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High 8.8
IBM i is Affected By Multiple Vulnerabilities in Domain Name System
IBM i 7.6, and 7.5 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands with elevated privileges due to improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command.
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High 8.8
IBM i is Affected By Multiple Vulnerabilities in Domain Name System
IBM i 7.6, and 7.5 could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges due to improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command.
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Medium 6.3
IBM i is Affected By Multiple Vulnerabilities in SQL
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to bypass security restrictions due to improper neutralization of special elements in an SQL parameter.
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High 8.3
IBM i is Affected By Multiple Vulnerabilities in Navigator for i
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary Control Language commands due to insufficient input validation.
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High 8.8
IBM i is Affected By privilege escalation in Navigator for i
IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 is vulnerable to privilege escalation via Navigator for i. An authenticated user could elevate privileges to a root user to execute commands.
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High 7.5
Nagios Core / XI Authenticated RCE via Unfiltered NOTIFICATION-Family Macro Substitution
Nagios Core before 4.5.14 and Nagios XI before 2026R1.7 are vulnerable to authenticated remote code execution via unfiltered NOTIFICATION-family macro substitution through the com_data parameter. When a notification command references $NOTIFICATIONCOMMENT$ or…
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High 7.5
Nagios Core / XI Authenticated RCE via Custom-Variable Macro Injection
Nagios Core before 4.5.13 and Nagios XI before 2026R1.5 are vulnerable to authenticated remote code execution via custom-variable macro injection through the Nagios Remote Data Processor (NRDP). When a custom variable defined on a host, service, or contact is…
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Critical 9.9
Semaphore U: OS Command Injection
Semaphore UI is a web interface for managing DevOps tools. Prior to 2.18.17 and 2.19.5-beta2, repository git_url handling passes an attacker-controlled --upload-pack option to CmdGitClient.GetLastRemoteCommitHash through POST /api/project/{id}/repositories an…
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Critical 9.9
Prowler: RCE on Prowler App workers via kubeconfig auth-provider cmd-path
Prowler is a cloud security platform. Prior to 5.36.0, the Kubernetes provider connection test accepted kubeconfig_content containing a legacy gcp auth-provider with config.cmd-path and config.cmd-args because kubeconfig_contains_exec_auth in api/src/backend/…
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High 8.8
cloudflare/pages-action is deprecated — migration required by September 18th, 2026
Description Cloudflare was recently notified by external researchers of vulnerabilities in this archived repository, including a remote code execution issue in `src/index.ts` reachable from certain GitHub Actions workflow configurations. Successful exploitati…
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High 8.8
libgit2 Shell Command Injection via ssh_libssh2 Backend
libgit2 versions before 1.8.7 and 1.9.0 before 1.9.7 built with the libssh2 SSH backend (USE_SSH=libssh2) contain a shell command injection vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on an SSH server by supplying a repository pat…
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High 8.8
FileRun 2026.2.0 RCE via Thumbnail Generation Command Injection
FileRun up to and including version 2026.2.0 contains an OS command injection vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers to achieve remote code execution by uploading a file with a malicious filename containing shell command substitution sequences. The…
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High 8.8
Electerm check folder size function may get attacked by unsafe folder name
electerm is an open-sourced terminal/ssh/sftp/telnet/serialport/RDP/VNC/Spice/ftp client. Prior to 3.15.120, electerm allows a malicious FTP or SFTP server to execute arbitrary commands when a user downloads a crafted folder and invokes Properties and Calcula…
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High 8.8
Claude Code Templates: Unauthenticated OS command injection (RCE) in Claude Code Studio server (--studio)
Claude Code Templates is a CLI tool for configuring and monitoring Claude Code. Prior to 1.29.4, the Claude Code Studio server launched by the --studio option in cli-tool/src/sandbox-server.js binds to all interfaces on port 3444, permits cross-origin request…
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High 7.8
GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio Code Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Improper neutralization of special elements used in an os command ('os command injection') in GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio Code allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
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High 8.8
Visual Studio Code Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Improper neutralization of special elements used in an os command ('os command injection') in Visual Studio Code allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network.
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High 7.7
ColdFusion | Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') (CWE-78)
ColdFusion is affected by an Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') vulnerability that could result in a Security feature bypass. A low-privileged attacker could leverage this vulnerability to bypass securit…
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Critical 10.0
ColdFusion | Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') (CWE-78)
ColdFusion is affected by an Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') vulnerability that could result in arbitrary code execution in the context of the current user. An attacker could exploit this vulnerabilit…
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High 8.7
Activepieces: Remote Code Execution via Command Injection in Code Step Name
Activepieces is an open source AI workflow automation platform. Prior to 0.80.0, the worker's code-compilation pipeline builds the on-disk path for a Code step from the step's name and passes that path to a shell-invoked build command. A step name containing …
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High 8.4
Google Turbinia arbitrary command execution
Google Turbinia allows arbitrary command execution via worker tasks. An attacker with privileges to submit a processing request or influence an evidence path/name obtains code execution on the worker fleet. Fixed on 2026-07-10.
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High 8.4
Vim: Arbitrary Code Execution via Shell Keyword Lookup
Vim is an open source, command line text editor. Prior to 9.2.0839, the runtime/ftplugin/sh.vim, runtime/ftplugin/zsh.vim, and runtime/ftplugin/ps1.vim filetype plugins pass attacker-controlled Visual-mode selections from K through keywordprg commands without…
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Medium 4.9
Command injection vulnerability in some NETGEAR Nighthawk devices
A command injection vulnerability in certain affected NETGEAR Nighthawk devices allows a network-adjacent attacker with the ability to intercept and modify local network traffic (attacker in the middle) to compromise the confidentiality and integrity of the a…
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High 8.7
n8n before 1.123.67 Remote Code Execution via Git node
n8n before 1.123.67, 2.x before 2.31.5, and 2.32.x before 2.32.1 contain a remote code execution vulnerability in the Git node. Authenticated users with rights to create and execute workflows can stage a crafted local repository that causes git to run hooks u…
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Critical 9.9
wg-easy wg-easy - OS Command Injection
An OS command injection vulnerability in wg-easy 15.3.0 allows users with the clients.create permission to execute arbitrary commands as root by injecting newline-delimited WireGuard PostUp directives into the client name field. The client name is written to …
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High 8.8
ZoneMinder ZoneMinder - Remote Code Execution
A remote code execution vulnerability in ZoneMinder 1.39.17 allows any authenticated user to execute OS commands by exploiting a broken permission check in the Filter class. The canEdit() and canDelete() methods invoke nonexistent methods on the ZM\User class…
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High 8.8
Apioo Fusio - Remote Code Execution
A remote code execution vulnerability in Apioo Fusio 8.8.3 allows authenticated users with the Developer role to execute arbitrary OS commands by exploiting a PHP-Sandbox allow-list bypass. The sandbox allow-list permits functions that transitively invoke sys…
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Medium 5.5
OS Command Injection vulnerability in Application Server ABAP of SAP NetWeaver and ABAP Platform
SAP NetWeaver Application Server ABAP and ABAP Platform allow an attacker with high privileges to bypass missing security controls on an internal code path leading to operating system command execution. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to exec…