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OS Command InjectionWeakness · CWE-78

CVE-2026-36044

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
@pensar/apex <= 0.0.58 is vulnerable to OS command injection via the smart_enumerate tool. The createSmartEnumerateTool() function in src/core/agent/tools.ts constructs a shell command by concatenating unsanitized values from the extensions array and url parameter into a string passed to Node.js child_process.exec(). Because exec() spawns a shell, shell metacharacters in those values are interpreted by the host shell, resulting in arbitrary OS command execution with the privileges of the running process. NOTE: this is disputed by the Supplier because the report is about intended behavior, as explained in the Security Policy of the pensarai/apex GitHub repo.

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 @pensar/apex library <= 0.0.58 contains an OS command injection vulnerability in the createSmartEnumerateTool() function. This function builds a shell command by directly concatenating unsanitized user-controlled values (the extensions array and url parameter) into a string passed to Node.js child_process.exec(). Since exec() spawns a shell, shell metacharacters in the input are interpreted by the host shell, enabling arbitrary OS command execution with the privileges of the running Node.js process.

MitigationReplace child_process.exec() with child_process.execFile() or child_process.spawn() using argument arrays and shell: false to prevent shell interpretation; implement strict allowlist validation on the extensions array and url parameter before incorporating them into any command string.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 @pensar/apex is installed
    Run 'npm list @pensar/apex' or inspect package.json dependencies to see if @pensar/apex is listed as a dependency
    Affected if @pensar/apex appears in the project's dependencies

If @pensar/apex version <= 0.0.58 is installed AND the createSmartEnumerateTool() function is being called with user-controlled extensions or url parameters, the environment is vulnerable to OS command injection.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Replace child_process.exec() with child_process.execFile() or child_process.spawn() using argument arrays and shell: false to prevent shell interpretation; implement strict allowlist validation on the extensions array and url parameter before incorporating them into any command string.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2026-36044 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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