MCP Watch has a Critical Command Injection in cloneRepo allows Remote Code Execution (RCE) via malicious URL

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

9.8 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2025-66401: 2.21% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 82.61 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

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 The code uses childprocess.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…

Published by the source

2 Dec 2025, 00:38 UTC

Last modified by the source

2 Dec 2025, 01:29 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 12:38 UTC

1. Revision 3 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm

2. Revision 2 · amended · 24 Oct 2026

   Amended from osv record GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm

3. Revision 1 · created · 23 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2025-66401

Advisory: MCP Watch has a Critical Command Injection in cloneRepo allows Remote Code Execution (RCE) via malicious URL
IDs: CVE-2025-66401, GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2025-66401 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 12:38 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor response not established. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- npm mcp-watch: affected <= 0.1.2

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls mcp-watch --all`: lists every installed copy and version, including transitive ones. Run in the project root after `npm ci`.

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on mcp-watch.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm lists affected ranges: npm mcp-watch >=0 <=0.1.2)
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm (OSV record GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm lists affected ranges: npm mcp-watch >=0 <=0.1.2)

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