Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A flaw in Shescape can let untrusted input escape protected command arguments and run arbitrary commands on Windows systems using CMD. Exploitation depends on how the application builds its command, but successful attacks could compromise data, software, and service availability. Fixed releases are available.
Executive priority
Treat matching internet-facing or remotely reachable Windows workloads as an immediate remediation priority. Rapidly inventory other deployments and upgrade during the earliest controlled window. The impact is critical, although exploitation requires specific application behavior and active attacks are not established by the supplied evidence.
Technical view
Before 2.1.14 and 3.0.1, Shescape's Windows CMD escaping logic omits parentheses. Applications using escape or escapeAll with cmd.exe—or shell: true when CMD is default—may allow attacker-controlled arguments to break out of parenthesized CMD constructs and inject shell syntax. The issue maps to CWE-150 and CWE-78.
Likely exposure
Exposure requires Shescape below 2.1.14, or 3.0.0, on Windows with CMD handling, attacker-controlled command arguments, and a susceptible parenthesized command structure. Systems not meeting these conditions are not shown by the supplied evidence to be exploitable.
Exploitation context
The source bundle reports a CVSS 4.0 score of 9.2 and potential arbitrary command execution. CISA KEV status is false, and the supplied sources provide no evidence of active exploitation. Practical exploitation remains dependent on the calling application's command construction.
Researcher notes
Assess reachability at the application call site rather than relying only on package presence. Key predicates are affected version, Windows CMD selection, escape or escapeAll usage, untrusted argument flow, and a parenthesized command context. The supplied material identifies fixes but does not establish exploit prevalence.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Shescape 2.x deployments to 2.1.14 or later.
- Upgrade Shescape 3.x deployments to 3.0.1 or later.
- Prioritize Windows services that pass untrusted input into shell commands.
- Review vendor guidance before applying compensating controls where immediate upgrades are impossible.
Validation and detection
- Inventory direct and transitive Shescape versions in deployed applications.
- Identify Windows execution paths using cmd.exe or shell: true.
- Trace whether attacker-controlled values reach Shescape escape or escapeAll APIs.
- Review affected command construction for parenthesized CMD contexts.
- After upgrading, confirm resolved versions in lockfiles and deployed artifacts.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-150: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-78: Command execution behavior lookup
Command injection weaknesses can lead defenders to review execution techniques and command interpreter telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-73414 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.2 (4.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N——GitHub_MVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 4.0 score
9.2CriticalVector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/security/advisories/GHSA-w4hw-qcx7-56prCVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/pull/2649CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/pull/2651CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/commit/43d70b59d09bbe5c3fd02ef08b3a123e977ed9deCVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/commit/b4b34c394e7f9da2775bb75381066b9a228c425fCVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/releases/tag/v2.1.14CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/ericcornelissen/shescape/releases/tag/v3.0.1CVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences
Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.