Vulnerability Database

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Total vulnerabilities in the database

Shescape: Home-directory disclosure in assignment context on Unix with Dash — shescape

Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output

Impact

This impacts users of Shescape on Unix systems that explicitly configure shell to Dash, or true when the default shell is Dash, using the escape and escapeAll APIs in assignments prefixed to a command.

An attacker may be able to obtain the location of the home directory and, depending on how it is used, change the location on which a command operates in unexpected ways.

import * as cp from "node:child_process"; import { Shescape } from "shescape"; // 1. Prerequisites const options = { shell: "dash", // Or shell: true, // Only if the default shell is Dash }; // 2. Payload const payload = ":~"; // 3. Usage const shescape = new Shescape(options); let escapedPayload; escapedPayload = shescape.escape(payload); // Or escapedPayload = shescape.escapeAll([payload]); // And (example) const result = cp.execSync(`V=${escapedPayload}; echo $V`, options); // 4. Impact console.log(result.toString()); // Outputs ":" followed by the user's home directory

Patches

This bug has been patched in [v2.1.14] and [v3.0.1] which you can upgrade to now.

If you are already using v3 of Shescape, no further changes are required. If you are using v2 of Shescape it is recommended to upgrade as this version reaches end-of-life status on 2026-09-28, follow the [migration guide] to upgrade to v3.

No patches will be released for version of Shescape lower than v2.0.0.

Workarounds

Alternatively, users of Shescape can 1) refrain from using Dash, 2) use the env option of the node:child_process API to inject variables with untrusted values instead, or 3) remove all instances of ~ from untrusted inputs.

For more information

  • Comment on Pull Request [#2651] for v2 and [#2649] for v3
  • Comment on commit [b4b34c3] for v2 and [43d70b5] for v3
  • Open an issue at <https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/issues> (New issue > Question)
  • Published: Jul 24, 2026
  • Updated: Jul 25, 2026
  • GHSA: GHSA-q53c-4prm-w95q
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

No technical information available.

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

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Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

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