CVE-2019-15598 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in tree-kill. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for tree-kill — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Treekill Enables OS Command Injection
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
tree-killnpmDescription
A Code Injection exists in treekill and tree-kill on Windows which allows a remote code execution when an attacker is able to control the input into the command.
Steps To Reproduce:
Create the following PoC file:
var kill = require('treekill');
kill('3333332 & echo "HACKED" > HACKED.txt & ');
Execute the following commands in terminal:
npm i treekill # Install affected module
dir # Check *HACKED.txt* doesn't exist
node poc.js # Run the PoC
dir # Now *HACKED.txt* exists :)
The HACKED.txt has been created
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | tree-kill | all versions | 1.2.2npm install tree-kill@1.2.2 |
Affected Products
treekilltreekill_projectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tree-kill, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update tree-kill to 1.2.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-15598 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-15598 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.