@apostrophecms/cli: Command Injection in apos create via Unsanitized Password Input

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2026-42853: 0.54% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 45.24 (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 @apostrophecms/cli package contains a command injection vulnerability in the apos create command. User-supplied input from the password prompt is embedded directly into a shell command without proper sanitization or escaping. This allows execution of arbitrary commands on the host system. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Details Vulnerable file: lib/commands/create.js Location: Line 186 The CLI collects a password using an interactive prompt and passes it directly into a shell command. Vulnerable code: const response = await prompts({ type: 'password', name: 'pw', message: '🔏 Please enter a password:' }); exec(echo "${response.pw}" | ${createUserCommand}); The value of response.pw is not validated, sanitized, or escaped before being used in exec(). This allows shell metacharacters such as ;, &&, and $() to break out of the intended command and execute arbitrary commands. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Steps to Reproduce 1) Install the CLI npm install -g @apostrophecms/cli 2) Create a new…

Published by the source

14 May 2026, 16:16 UTC

Last modified by the source

10 Sep 2026, 03:50 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 12:55 UTC

1. Revision 2 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-hcwq-x9fw-8cfq

2. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-hcwq-x9fw-8cfq

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-42853

Advisory: @apostrophecms/cli: Command Injection in apos create via Unsanitized Password Input
IDs: CVE-2026-42853, GHSA-hcwq-x9fw-8cfq
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-42853 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 12:55 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.5)
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 @apostrophecms/cli: affected <= 3.6.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `npm ls @apostrophecms/cli --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 @apostrophecms/cli.
- 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://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-hcwq-x9fw-8cfq (OSV record GHSA-hcwq-x9fw-8cfq lists affected ranges: npm @apostrophecms/cli >=0 <=3.6.0)
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-hcwq-x9fw-8cfq (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-hcwq-x9fw-8cfq lists affected ranges: npm @apostrophecms/cli >=0 <=3.6.0)

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