CVE-2026-44972

GuardDog includes attacker-controlled filenames, file locations, messages, and code snippets in its default human-readable output without escaping terminal control characters. A malicious package can therefore inject ANSI or OSC escape sequences into analyst terminals or CI logs.

Description

The finding formatter stores file paths and snippets from scanned content:

location = file_path + ":" + str(start_line)
finding = {
    "location": location,
    "code": code,
    "message": result["extra"]["message"],
}

The human-readable reporter later prints these values directly:

"  * " + finding["message"] + " at " + finding["location"] + "\n    " + _format_code_line_for_output(finding["code"])

No escaping is applied for control characters such as \x1b. A malicious package can therefore ship a filename like:

evil\x1b[2J.py

or matched source lines containing terminal escapes, which survive into the final CLI output.

Reproduction summary

1. Create a file whose name contains \x1b[2J.
2. Feed a semgrep-style result referencing that file into Analyzer._format_semgrep_response().
3. Render the result with HumanReadableReporter.print_scan_results().
4. The output string contains the raw escape bytes, which a terminal may interpret.

Key code paths

• guarddog/analyzer/analyzer.py:377-392
• guarddog/reporters/human_readable.py:36-42
• guarddog/reporters/human_readable.py:84-91

Practical impact

This can be used to:

• clear or rewrite analyst terminal output
• inject misleading or spoofed log content in CI
• emit clickable OSC 8 hyperlinks or title changes in compatible terminals

Prior public disclosure check

As of 2026-03-18, no matching public GitHub advisory, CVE, or public repo issue was found for this specific bug.

CVE-2026-44972 has a CVSS score of 5.0 (Medium). 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. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.

Kodem intelligence

Escape or strip terminal control characters before rendering any attacker-controlled value in human-readable output. This should cover package names, file paths, messages, and code snippets.

1. What is CVE-2026-44972? CVE-2026-44972 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in guarddog (pip), affecting versions >= 2.6.0, <= 2.9.0. No fixed version is listed yet.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-44972? CVE-2026-44972 has a CVSS score of 5.0 (Medium). 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 guarddog are affected by CVE-2026-44972? guarddog (pip) versions >= 2.6.0, <= 2.9.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-44972? No fixed version is listed for CVE-2026-44972 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
5. Is CVE-2026-44972 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-44972 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-2026-44972 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.