CVE-2026-34937: PraisonAI Shell Injection Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-w37c-qqfp-c67f
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CVSS 7.8
CWE-78
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-34937 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.8) shell injection vulnerability (CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')) affecting PraisonAI libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves shell injection in run_python() via unescaped $() substitution. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.5.90.

CVE-2026-34937 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-34937
GHSA Identifier GHSA-w37c-qqfp-c67f
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.8
CWE Classification CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
Affected Product PraisonAI
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Local (AV:L)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2026-34937

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected PraisonAI dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

praisonaiagents fixed: 1.5.90 
pip install praisonaiagents>=1.5.90
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show praisonaiagents

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-34937, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show praisonaiagents

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of PraisonAI in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.5.90), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show praisonaiagents command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection'), where the product constructs all or part of an os command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended os command when it is sent to a downstream component. In PraisonAI, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Summary `run_python()` in `praisonai` constructs a shell command string by interpolating user-controlled code into `python3 -c "<code>"` and passing it to `subprocess.run(..., shell=True)`. The escaping logic only handles `\` and `"`, leaving `$()` and backtick substitutions unescaped, allowing arbitrary OS command execution before Python is invoked. ### Details `execute_command.py:290` (source) -> `execute_command.py:297` (hop) -> `execute_command.py:310` (sink) ```python # source -- user-controlled code argument def run_python(code: str, cwd=None, timeout=60): # hop -- incomplete escaping, $ and () not handled escaped_code = code.replace('\\', '\\\\').replace('"', '\\"') command = f'{python_cmd} -c "{escaped_code}"' # sink -- shell=True expands $() before python3 runs return execute_command(command=command, cwd=cwd, timeout=timeout) # execute_command calls subprocess.run(command, shell=True, ...) ``` ### PoC ```python # tested on: praisonai==0.0.81 (source install, commit HEAD 2026-03-30) # install: pip install -e src/praisonai import sys sys.path.insert(0, 'src/praisonai') from praisonai.code.tools.execute_command import run_python result = run_python(code='$(id > /tmp/injected)') print(result) # verify import subprocess print(subprocess.run(['cat', '/tmp/injected'], capture_output=True, text=True).stdout) # expected output: uid=1000(narey) gid=1000(narey) groups=1000(narey)... ``` ### Impact Any agent pipeline or API consumer that passes user or task-supplied content to `run_python()` is exposed to full OS command execution as the process user. The function is reachable via indirect prompt injection and the auto-generated Flask server deploys with `AUTH_ENABLED = False` by default when no token is configured.

CVE-2026-34937 Affected PraisonAI Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.5.90
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
praisonaiagents
pypi/praisonaiagents
PyPI
< 1.5.90
1.5.90

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/security/advisories/GHSA-w37c-qqfp-c67f
NVD — CVE-2026-34937 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-34937
PraisonAI Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-34937?
CVE-2026-34937 is a security vulnerability in PraisonAI involving Shell Injection in run_python() via Unescaped $() Substitution under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection').
Which PraisonAI versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.5.90 across affected packages: praisonaiagents.
What version fixes CVE-2026-34937?
Upgrading to 1.5.90 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is praisonaiagents affected?
Yes, praisonaiagents is affected in releases prior to 1.5.90. Upgrade your dependency to 1.5.90 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-34937?
CVE-2026-34937 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-34937?
CVE-2026-34937 is classified under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') (The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-34937?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show praisonaiagents'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-w37c-qqfp-c67f",
  "modified" : "2026-04-06T22:54:08Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-01T23:18:17Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-34937" ],
  "summary" : "PraisonAI: Shell Injection in run_python() via Unescaped $() Substitution",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\n`run_python()` in `praisonai` constructs a shell command string by interpolating user-controlled code into `python3 -c \"<code>\"` and passing it to `subprocess.run(..., shell=True)`. The escaping logic only handles `\\` and `\"`, leaving `$()` and backtick substitutions unescaped, allowing arbitrary OS command execution before Python is invoked.\n\n### Details\n\n`execute_command.py:290` (source) -> `execute_command.py:297` (hop) -> `execute_command.py:310` (sink)\n```python\n# source -- user-controlled code argument\ndef run_python(code: str, cwd=None, timeout=60):\n\n# hop -- incomplete escaping, $ and () not handled\n    escaped_code = code.replace('\\\\', '\\\\\\\\').replace('\"', '\\\\\"')\n    command = f'{python_cmd} -c \"{escaped_code}\"'\n\n# sink -- shell=True expands $() before python3 runs\n    return execute_command(command=command, cwd=cwd, timeout=timeout)\n    # execute_command calls subprocess.run(command, shell=True, ...)\n```\n\n### PoC\n```python\n# tested on: praisonai==0.0.81 (source install, commit HEAD 2026-03-30)\n# install: pip install -e src/praisonai\nimport sys\nsys.path.insert(0, 'src/praisonai')\nfrom praisonai.code.tools.execute_command import run_python\n\nresult = run_python(code='$(id > /tmp/injected)')\nprint(result)\n\n# verify\nimport subprocess\nprint(subprocess.run(['cat', '/tmp/injected'], capture_output=True, text=True).stdout)\n# expected output: uid=1000(narey) gid=1000(narey) groups=1000(narey)...\n```\n\n### Impact\n\nAny agent pipeline or API consumer that passes user or task-supplied content to `run_python()` is exposed to full OS command execution as the process user. The function is reachable via indirect prompt injection and the auto-generated Flask server deploys with `AUTH_ENABLED = False` by default when no token is configured.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "praisonaiagents"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.5.90"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 1.5.89"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/security/advisories/GHSA-w37c-qqfp-c67f"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-34937"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-78" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-01T23:18:17Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-04-03T23:17:06Z"
  }
}