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CWE-73Weakness · CWE-73

CVE-2026-11526

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-14
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
GD versions before 2.86 for Perl allow OS command injection and file overwrite via a 2-arg open() of filename arguments in _make_filehandle. GD::Image::_make_filehandle opens a filename argument with Perl's 2-arg open(), so a filename that begins or ends with a pipe ("| cmd", "cmd |") or begins with a redirect ("> path", ">> path") is run as a command or redirect rather than opened as a file. _make_filehandle is the single open path behind every filename-accepting constructor (new, newFromPng, newFromJpeg, and the rest); the in-memory *Data variants do not open a path and are unaffected. Any caller that forwards untrusted input to one of these constructors as a pathname can run an arbitrary command or truncate a file under the process UID.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The GD library for Perl versions before 2.86 uses unsafe 2-arg open() in _make_filehandle() to open file paths, allowing attackers to inject shell commands via pipe characters (|) or overwrite files via redirect operators (>) in filenames passed to image constructors like new(), newFromPng(), and newFromJpeg().

MitigationUpgrade GD to version 2.86 or later, which replaces 2-arg open() with safe 3-arg open(). If upgrade is not possible, validate that all filename arguments do not contain pipe or redirect characters before passing to GD constructors.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed GD Perl library version
    Run `perl -MGD -e 'print $GD::VERSION'` or `perl -MGD::Simple -e 'print $GD::Simple::VERSION'` to get the installed version number
    Affected if Version is below 2.86 (e.g., 2.85, 2.84, etc.)
  2. Identify GD::Image constructor calls with filename arguments
    Search codebase for patterns like GD::Image->new(, newFromPng(, newFromJpeg(, newFromGif(, newFromTiff(, newFromBmp(, and similar constructors that accept a filename as the first argument
    Affected if Code uses any GD::Image constructor that accepts a filename string rather than a filehandle or raw data
  3. Determine if filename arguments come from untrusted input
    Trace the source of each filename passed to GD::Image constructors - check if values originate from user input, HTTP parameters, uploaded files, or external data without sanitization
    Affected if Filename arguments are constructed from user-controlled data or external sources without validation
  4. Inspect filenames for shell metacharacters
    For any identified GD filename arguments, examine whether they could contain pipe (|) or redirect (>, >>) characters at the start or end of the string
    Affected if Filenames could contain characters like |, >, or >> without being explicitly validated as safe
  5. Check for dynamic filename construction
    Search for code that concatenates or interpolates variables into filename strings passed to GD constructors, such as `$dir/$file`, `$filename . $ext`, or similar patterns
    Affected if Filenames are built dynamically from multiple parts rather than hardcoded safe constants

You are affected if GD version is below 2.86 AND your code passes user-influenced or dynamically constructed filenames containing shell metacharacters (|, >, >>) to any GD::Image filename-accepting constructor.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GD to version 2.86 or later, which replaces 2-arg open() with safe 3-arg open(). If upgrade is not possible, validate that all filename arguments do not contain pipe or redirect characters before passing to GD constructors.

Recommended fix High confidence

GD 2.86

  1. Check current GD version: perl -MGD -e 'print "$GD::VERSION\n"'
  2. Upgrade GD to version 2.86 or later using your Perl module manager (e.g., 'cpan -i GD' or 'cpanm GD' or via system package manager such as apt/yum/dnf)
  3. Verify the fixed version is installed: perl -MGD -e 'print "$GD::VERSION\n"' (should show 2.86 or higher)
  4. If you maintain Perl applications using GD, audit code that passes filenames to constructors (new, newFromPng, newFromJpeg, etc.) to ensure untrusted input is not passed directly as file paths
Caveat Users relying on shell metacharacters in filenames (e.g., piping to commands via '|') will need to refactor code to use safer alternatives since the vulnerable 2-arg open() behavior is removed

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,600
Get the patch applied

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-11526 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data