CVE-2025-66401 — Vulnerability in mcp-watch — CVE Details
CRITICAL
MCP Watch has a Critical Command Injection in cloneRepo allows Remote Code Execution (RCE) via malicious URL
Published December 2, 2025Updated December 2, 2025Source: osv
Summary
### Summary
The `MCPScanner ` class contains a critical Command Injection vulnerability in the `cloneRepo `method. The application passes the user-supplied githubUrl argument directly to a system shell via execSync without sanitization. This allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the host machine by appending shell metacharacters to the URL.
### Details
The vulnerability exists in the src/scanner/MCPScanner.ts file within the cloneRepo method.
[https://github.com/kapilduraphe/mcp-watch/blob/0fca7228bd313ae5aa938d61311377e88ce6e682/src/scanner/McpScanner.ts#L181](https://github.com/kapilduraphe/mcp-watch/blob/0fca7228bd313ae5aa938d61311377e88ce6e682/src/scanner/McpScanner.ts#L181)
The code uses child_process.execSync to execute a git clone command:
Because execSync spawns a shell (defaulting to `/bin/sh` on Unix or` cmd.exe` on Windows), any shell metacharacters present in the url argument will be interpreted by the shell. The application does not validate that the url is a valid Git URL, nor does it sanitize input for shell metacharacters.
### PoC
Install the package or clone the repository.
Run the scanner using the CLI (or invoke scanRepository programmatically).
Provide a malicious URL containing a command separator (e.g., ;, &, or |) and a system command.
payload : `npm run scan:github "https://github.com/kapilduraphe/mcp-watch & calc.exe"`
<img width="1918" height="1046" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/021c1dfa-3f87-483c-aecb-6939bcf9c925" />
### Impact
Severity: **Critical**
**CVSS Score**: 9.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
Description: This vulnerability allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on the machine running the scanner.
If run by a developer locally, it compromises their workstation.
If deployed as a hosted scanning service, it grants the attacker full control over the server (RCE), leading to potential data exfiltration, service disruption, or further lateral movement within the infrastructure.
**Context Dependent Risk:**
Local CLI : If you run this tool locally on your own machine, you are "hacking yourself." The risk is limited unless you copy-paste a malicious URL sent by someone else (e.g., "Hey, check this repo scan: npm run scan "https://git./..; rm -rf /").
**Web Service / CI Pipeline (Critical Risk)**: If this scanner is deployed as a web service (e.g., "Paste your repo URL to scan"), an attacker can take full control of the server immediately.
Advisory Timeline
- First published December 2, 2025 (314 days ago).
- Last revised December 2, 2025 — 0 days after initial publication.
Affected Packages (1)
Affects 1 ecosystem: npm (1).
| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed In |
|---|---|---|---|
| mcp-watch | npm | All versions | Range-based data available |
Vulnerability Classification
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.
- CWE-78OS Command InjectionMITRE
CVSS Score Breakdown
What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.8 score means for each attack dimension.
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2025-66401?
- MCP Watch has a Critical Command Injection in cloneRepo allows Remote Code Execution (RCE) via malicious URL This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.8/10).
- How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2025-66401?
- CVE-2025-66401 affects mcp-watch. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2025-66401 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.
Severity & Exploitability
CVSS Score
9.8
Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.
Also Known As
GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm
Related CVEs
- CVE-2026-107722CRITICAL
fast-jwt: Incomplete patch of CVE-2026-34950: Non-whitespace key-prefix re-enables RSA→HS256 algorithm confusion
- CVE-2026-108261CRITICAL
TinaCMS admin preview iframe loads an attacker-controlled origin from the URL fragment
Check if you're affected
Scan your dependencies to see if this vulnerability affects your projects.
Scan Your Dependencies