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CVE-2026-73414 — Vulnerability in shescape — CVE Details

CRITICAL

Shescape: Shell injection via unescaped parentheses on Windows with CMD

Published July 24, 2026Updated August 12, 2026Source: osv

Summary

### Impact This impacts users of Shescape on Windows that explicitly configure `shell` to CMD, or `true` with the default shell being CMD, using the `escape` and `escapeAll` APIs. An attacker may be able to achieve shell injection depending on the original command. ```javascript import * as cp from "node:child_process"; import { Shescape } from "shescape"; // 1. Prerequisites const options = { shell: "cmd.exe", // Or shell: true, // Only if the default shell is CMD }; // 2. Payload const payload = "x) else if a==a (echo y"; // 3. Usage const shescape = new Shescape(options); let escapedPayload; escapedPayload = shescape.escape(payload); // Or escapedPayload = shescape.escapeAll([payload]); // And (example) const result = cp.execSync(`if defined FALSY (echo ${escapedPayload})`, options); // 4. Impact console.log(result.toString()); // Outputs "y" instead of "" ``` ### Patches This bug has been patched in [v2.1.14] and [v3.0.1] which you can upgrade to now. If you are already using v3 of Shescape, no further changes are required. If you are using v2 of Shescape is recommended to upgrade as this version reaches end-of-life status on 2026-09-28, follow the [migration guide] to upgrade to v3. No patches will be released for version of Shescape lower than v2.0.0. ### Workarounds Alternatively, users of Shescape can remove all instances of `(` and `)` from untrusted inputs. ### For more information - Comment on Pull Request [#2651] for v2 and [#2649] for v3 - Comment on commit [b4b34c3] for v2 and [43d70b5] for v3 - Open an issue at <https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/issues> (New issue > Question)

Advisory Timeline

  • First published July 24, 2026 (80 days ago).
  • Last revised August 12, 2026 — 19 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

npm
Update shescape to 3.0.1 or later
npm install shescape@3.0.1
npm
Update shescape to 2.1.14 or later
npm install shescape@2.1.14

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (2)

Affects 1 ecosystem: npm (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
shescape
npm
All versions3.0.1
shescape
npm
All versions2.1.14

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.3 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
—
Confidentiality
—
Integrity
—
Availability
—

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-73414?
Shescape: Shell injection via unescaped parentheses on Windows with CMD This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.3/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2026-73414?
CVE-2026-73414 affects shescape. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2026-73414 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.3

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-w4hw-qcx7-56pr

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