TextractApplication · Dbashford

CVE-2026-26831

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.5.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
textract through 2.5.0 is vulnerable to OS Command Injection via the file path parameter in multiple extractors. When processing files with malicious filenames, the filePath is passed directly to child_process.exec() in lib/extractors/doc.js, rtf.js, dxf.js, images.js, and lib/util.js with inadequate sanitization

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 textract library through version 2.5.0 is vulnerable to OS command injection because the filePath parameter is passed directly to child_process.exec() without sanitization in multiple extractor files (doc.js, rtf.js, dxf.js, images.js, and util.js). An attacker can exploit this by providing malicious filenames containing shell metacharacters.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of textract if available; otherwise, implement proper input validation and sanitization on file paths before passing them to child_process.exec(), such as using execFile() instead of exec() or validating that filenames contain only safe characters.

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

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
TextractApplication
Affected:<= 2.5.0

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 textract version
    Run 'npm list textract' or check package.json to see the installed version of the textract package
    Affected if The installed version is 2.5.0 or lower
  2. Identify if textract processes external filenames
    Review application code that calls textract.extract() and trace where the filePath argument originates
    Affected if filePath values come from user input or untrusted sources
  3. Verify affected extractor modules are in use
    Check if the application uses textract to extract from .doc, .rtf, .dxf, or image files - examine node_modules/textract/[doc|rtf|dxf|images].js files
    Affected if The application processes any of these file types through textract
  4. Confirm exec() usage with file paths
    Inspect the source code of the extractor files in node_modules/textract/ - look for child_process.exec() calls that concatenate or interpolate the filePath parameter
    Affected if The code uses exec() with unsanitized filePath instead of execFile() or proper escaping

A user is affected if they have textract version 2.5.0 or lower and process untrusted filenames through its extractors for .doc, .rtf, .dxf, or image files.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.5.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of textract if available; otherwise, implement proper input validation and sanitization on file paths before passing them to child_process.exec(), such as using execFile() instead of exec() or validating that filenames contain only safe characters.

Fix this in Textract Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2026-26831 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