CVE-2026-42290

pbts invoked JSDoc by building a shell command string from input file paths and executing it through child_process.exec. File paths containing shell metacharacters could therefore be interpreted by the shell instead of being passed to JSDoc as plain arguments.

Preconditions

• The application or user must invoke pbts on file paths influenced by an attacker.
• The attacker must be able to supply or create a path containing shell-significant characters.
• The vulnerable pbts version must execute the generated JSDoc command through a shell.

Workarounds

Do not run affected versions of pbts on attacker-controlled file names or paths. If this cannot be avoided, sanitize or rename input files before invoking pbts, or run the CLI in an isolated environment with minimal privileges.

An attacker who can control file names or paths passed to pbts may be able to execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the process running pbts.

This affects the protobufjs CLI tooling path. The protobufjs runtime APIs for encoding, decoding, parsing, and loading protobuf messages are not directly affected by this issue.

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

CVE-2026-42290 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (High). The vector is requires local access, no 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 (1.2.1, 2.0.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

1. What is CVE-2026-42290? CVE-2026-42290 is a high-severity OS command injection vulnerability in protobufjs-cli (npm), affecting versions <= 1.2.0. It is fixed in 1.2.1, 2.0.2. Untrusted input reaches a shell command, allowing arbitrary commands to run on the host.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-42290? CVE-2026-42290 has a CVSS score of 7.8 (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 protobufjs-cli are affected by CVE-2026-42290? protobufjs-cli (npm) versions <= 1.2.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-42290? Yes. CVE-2026-42290 is fixed in 1.2.1, 2.0.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-42290 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-42290 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-2026-42290 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-2026-42290?
   • Upgrade protobufjs-cli to 1.2.1 or later
   • Upgrade protobufjs-cli to 2.0.2 or later