CVE-2025-55294 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) CWE-77 vulnerability in screenshot-desktop. A fix is available for screenshot-desktop — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Command Injection via `format` option in screenshot-desktop
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-55294.
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.
screenshot-desktopnpmDescription
Impact
This vulnerability is a command injection issue.
When user-controlled input is passed into the format option of the screenshot function, it is interpolated into a shell command without sanitization.
An attacker can craft malicious input such as:
{ format: "; echo vulnerable > /tmp/hello;" }
This results in arbitrary command execution with the privileges of the calling process.
Who is impacted:
Any application that accepts untrusted input and forwards it directly (or indirectly) into the format option is affected. If the library is used in a server-side context (e.g., API endpoints, web services), attackers may be able to exploit this remotely and without authentication, leading to full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.8 (Critical)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Patches
The issue has been patched in version 1.15.2.
All users are strongly recommended to upgrade to 1.15.2 or later.
All earlier versions are vulnerable.
Workarounds
If upgrading is not immediately possible, developers should:
- Strictly validate or whitelist acceptable
formatvalues (e.g.,"jpeg","png","webp"). - Reject or sanitize any unexpected input before passing it to the library.
- Avoid allowing user-controlled data to reach the
formatoption.
References
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | screenshot-desktop | all versions | 1.15.2npm install screenshot-desktop@1.15.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for screenshot-desktop, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update screenshot-desktop to 1.15.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-55294 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-2025-55294 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.