CVE-2026-28279

An OS command injection vulnerability exists in the osctrl-admin environment configuration. An authenticated administrator can inject arbitrary shell commands via the hostname parameter when creating or editing environments. These commands are embedded into enrollment one-liner scripts generated using Go's text/template package (which does not perform shell escaping) and execute on every endpoint that enrolls using the compromised environment.

Workarounds

Restrict osctrl administrator access to trusted personnel. Review existing environment configurations for suspicious hostnames. Monitor enrollment scripts for unexpected commands.

Credits

Leon Johnson and Kwangyun Keum from TikTok USDS JV Offensive Security Operations (Offensive Privacy Team)

https://github.com/Kwangyun → @Kwangyun
https://github.com/sho-luv → @sho-luv

An attacker with administrator access can achieve remote code execution on every endpoint that enrolls using the compromised environment. Commands execute as root/SYSTEM (the privilege level used for osquery enrollment) before osquery is installed, leaving no agent-level audit trail. This enables backdoor installation, credential exfiltration, and full endpoint compromise.

Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host. Typical impact: code execution in the application's environment.

CVE-2026-28279 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (High). The vector is reachable from an adjacent network, high privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.5.0); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Fixed in osctrl v0.5.0. Users should upgrade immediately.

1. What is CVE-2026-28279? CVE-2026-28279 is a high-severity OS command injection vulnerability in github.com/jmpsec/osctrl (go), affecting versions < 0.5.0. It is fixed in 0.5.0. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-28279? CVE-2026-28279 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of github.com/jmpsec/osctrl are affected by CVE-2026-28279? github.com/jmpsec/osctrl (go) versions < 0.5.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-28279? Yes. CVE-2026-28279 is fixed in 0.5.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-28279 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-28279 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-28279 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-28279? Upgrade github.com/jmpsec/osctrl to 0.5.0 or later.