Tesseract OcrApplication · Zapolnoch

CVE-2026-26832

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
node-tesseract-ocr is an npm package that provides a Node.js wrapper for Tesseract OCR. In all versions through 2.2.1, the recognize() function in src/index.js is vulnerable to OS Command Injection. The file path parameter is concatenated into a shell command string and passed to child_process.exec() without proper 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 node-tesseract-ocr npm package versions through 2.2.1 contains an OS Command Injection vulnerability in the recognize() function in src/index.js. The file path parameter is directly concatenated into a shell command string and passed to child_process.exec() without any sanitization, allowing remote attackers to inject arbitrary OS commands.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version that uses child_process.execFile() or spawns processes with argument arrays instead of shell string concatenation, or implement strict input validation to forbid shell metacharacters in file paths.

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
Tesseract OcrApplication
Affected:<= 2.2.1

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 if node-tesseract-ocr is installed
    Run 'npm list node-tesseract-ocr' or inspect your project's package.json dependencies
    Affected if The package is listed in dependencies
  2. Determine the installed version
    Run 'npm list node-tesseract-ocr' to see the version number, or check package-lock.json
    Affected if The version is 2.2.1 or lower
  3. Locate the vulnerable source file
    Inspect node_modules/node-tesseract-ocr/src/index.js and search for child_process.exec() usage within the recognize() function
    Affected if The code uses child_process.exec() with concatenated file path parameters
  4. Check if recognize() function is used with external input
    Audit your codebase for calls to recognize() where the file path argument could be controlled by users or external sources
    Affected if User-supplied paths are passed directly to recognize() without validation

You are affected if node-tesseract-ocr version 2.2.1 or lower is installed AND your application passes file paths to recognize() that could be influenced by external input.

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 2.2.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version that uses child_process.execFile() or spawns processes with argument arrays instead of shell string concatenation, or implement strict input validation to forbid shell metacharacters in file paths.

Fix this in Tesseract Ocr Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,820
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,512.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-26832 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2026-26832 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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