Description
The traceroute (aka node-traceroute) package through 1.0.0 for Node.js allows remote command injection via the host parameter. This occurs because the Child.exec() method, which is considered to be not entirely safe, is used. In particular, an OS command can be placed after a newline character.
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
GitHub 1 repository
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dannyEndorTest/node-vulnerable ★ 0 · May 21, 2026
Synthetic demo target for EXPOSURE — CVE-2018-21268 (traceroute) + CVE-2018-3757 (pdf-image)
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| npm | traceroute | <= 1.0.0 | — | GHSA-8j9v-qhp4-wv55 |
References
- https://www.linkedin.com/posts/op-innovate_shell-command-injection-through-traceroute-activity-6678956453086191616-Rcpy
- https://www.op-c.net/2020/06/17/shell-command-injection-through-traceroute-npm-package/
- https://medium.com/%40shay_62828/shell-command-injection-through-traceroute-npm-package-a4cf7b6553e3
- https://github.com/jaw187/node-traceroute/tags
- https://www.npmjs.com/package/traceroute
- https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1465
- https://snyk.io/vuln/npm:traceroute:20160311
- https://github.com/jaw187/node-traceroute/commit/b99ee024a01a40d3d20a92ad3769cc78a3f6386f