CVE-2016-10541: Shell quote Potential Command Injection Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-qg8p-v9q4-gh34
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-78 CWE-94
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-10541 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) potential command injection vulnerability (CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')) affecting Shell quote libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves potential command injection in shell-quote. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.6.1.

CVE-2016-10541 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-10541
GHSA Identifier GHSA-qg8p-v9q4-gh34
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
Affected Product Shell quote
Package Ecosystem npm
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
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-2016-10541

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

shell-quote fixed: 1.6.1 
npm install shell-quote@1.6.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

npm ls shell-quote

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2016-10541, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls shell-quote

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Shell quote in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.6.1), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls shell-quote command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

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 Shell quote, 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

Affected versions of `shell-quote` do not properly escape command line arguments, which may result in command injection if the library is used to escape user input destined for use as command line arguments. ## Proof of Concept: The following characters are not escaped properly: `>`,`;`,`{`,`}` Bash has a neat but not well known feature known as "Bash Brace Expansion", wherein a sub-command can be executed without spaces by running it between a set of `{}` and using the `,` instead of ` ` to seperate arguments. Because of this, full command injection is possible even though it was initially thought to be impossible. ``` const quote = require('shell-quote').quote; console.log(quote(['a;{echo,test,123,234}'])); // Actual "a;{echo,test,123,234}" // Expected "a\;\{echo,test,123,234\}" // Functional Equivalent "a; echo 'test' '123' '1234'" ``` ## Recommendation Update to version 1.6.1 or later.

CVE-2016-10541 Affected Shell quote Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.6.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
shell-quote
npm/shell-quote
npm
< 1.6.1
1.6.1

References

NVD — CVE-2016-10541 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10541
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-qg8p-v9q4-gh34
www.npmjs.com/advisories/117 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/117

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-10541?
CVE-2016-10541 is a security vulnerability in Shell quote involving Potential Command Injection in shell-quote under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection').
Which Shell quote versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.6.1 across affected packages: shell-quote.
What version fixes CVE-2016-10541?
Upgrading to 1.6.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is shell-quote affected?
Yes, shell-quote is affected in releases prior to 1.6.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.6.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-10541?
CVE-2016-10541 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-10541?
CVE-2016-10541 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 npm dependencies for CVE-2016-10541?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls shell-quote'. 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-qg8p-v9q4-gh34",
  "modified" : "2022-11-22T17:49:45Z",
  "published" : "2019-02-18T23:58:29Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2016-10541" ],
  "summary" : "Potential Command Injection in shell-quote",
  "details" : "Affected versions of `shell-quote` do not properly escape command line arguments, which may result in command injection if the library is used to escape user input destined for use as command line arguments.\n\n\n\n## Proof of Concept:\n\nThe following characters are not escaped properly: `>`,`;`,`{`,`}`\n\nBash has a neat but not well known feature known as \"Bash Brace Expansion\", wherein a sub-command can be executed without spaces by running it between a set of `{}` and using the `,` instead of ` ` to seperate arguments. Because of this, full command injection is possible even though it was initially thought to be impossible. \n\n```\n   const quote = require('shell-quote').quote;\n   console.log(quote(['a;{echo,test,123,234}']));\n   // Actual                    \"a;{echo,test,123,234}\"\n   // Expected                  \"a\\;\\{echo,test,123,234\\}\"\n   // Functional Equivalent     \"a; echo 'test' '123' '1234'\"\n```\n\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 1.6.1 or later.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "shell-quote"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.6.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-10541"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-qg8p-v9q4-gh34"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/117"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-78", "CWE-94" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:51:49Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2018-05-31T20:29:00Z"
  }
}