| Package | Affected versions | Patched versions |
|---|---|---|
| shescape | ≥ 1.4.0, < 1.5.8 | 1.5.8 |
| shescape | ≥ 1.4.0, < 1.5.8 | 1.5.8 |
This only impacts users that use the escape or escapeAll functions with the interpolation option set to true. Example:
import cp from "node:child_process";
import * as shescape from "shescape";
// 1. Prerequisites
const options = {
shell: "bash",
// Or
shell: "dash",
// Or
shell: "powershell.exe",
// Or
shell: "zsh",
// Or
shell: undefined, // Only if the default shell is one of the affected shells.
};
// 2. Attack (one of multiple)
const payload = "foo #bar";
// 3. Usage
let escapedPayload;
shescape.escape(payload, { interpolation: true });
// Or
shescape.escapeAll(payload, { interpolation: true });
cp.execSync(`echo Hello ${escapedPayload}!`, options);
// _Output depends on the shell being used_
The result is that if an attacker is able to include whitespace in their input they can:
Behaviour number 1 has been patched in v1.5.7 which you can upgrade to now. No further changes are required.
Behaviour number 2, 3, and 4 have been patched in v1.5.8 which you can upgrade to now. No further changes are required.
The best workaround is to avoid having to use the interpolation: true option - in most cases using an alternative is possible, see the recipes for recommendations.
Alternatively, you can strip all whitespace from user input. Note that this is error prone, for example: for PowerShell this requires stripping '\u0085' which is not included in JavaScript's definition of \s for Regular Expressions.
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