CVE-2026-32260

A command injection vulnerability exists in Deno's node:child_process polyfill (shell: true mode) that bypasses the fix
for CVE-2026-27190 (GHSA-hmh4-3xvx-q5hr). An attacker who controls arguments passed to spawnSync or spawn with shell: true can execute arbitrary OS commands, bypassing Deno's permission system.

Affected versions: Deno v2.7.0, v2.7.1

Details

The two-stage argument sanitization in transformDenoShellCommand (ext/node/polyfills/internal/child_process.ts) has a
priority bug: when an argument contains a $VAR pattern, it is wrapped in double quotes (L1290) instead of single quotes
(L1293). Double quotes in POSIX sh do not suppress backtick command substitution, allowing injected commands to execute.

Attack chain:

1. escapeShellArg wraps the argument in single quotes (safe)
2. op_node_parse_shell_args strips the single-quote delimiters during tokenization (raw argument exposed)
3. Re-quoting detects $VAR pattern → applies double quotes
4. Backtick payload inside double quotes executes via /bin/sh

Impact

OS Command Injection (CWE-78). Any application using node:child_process spawn/spawnSync with shell: true and
user-controlled arguments is vulnerable. Injected commands execute at the OS process level, outside Deno's permission
sandbox. Only --allow-run is required.

Mitigation

Avoid passing user-controlled input as arguments to spawn/spawnSync with shell: true. Use shell: false (the default)
instead, or validate/sanitize inputs before passing them.

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

CVE-2026-32260 has a CVSS score of 8.1 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. 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 (2.7.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2026-32260? CVE-2026-32260 is a high-severity OS command injection vulnerability in deno (rust), affecting versions >= 2.7.0, < 2.7.2. It is fixed in 2.7.2. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-32260? CVE-2026-32260 has a CVSS score of 8.1 (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 deno are affected by CVE-2026-32260? deno (rust) versions >= 2.7.0, < 2.7.2 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-32260? Yes. CVE-2026-32260 is fixed in 2.7.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-32260 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-32260 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-2026-32260 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-2026-32260? Upgrade deno to 2.7.2 or later.