CVE-2026-32304 — locutus
CRITICALCVE-2026-32304 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Code Injection vulnerability in locutus. A fix is available for locutus — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Locutus: RCE via unsanitized input in create_function()
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-32304.
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.
locutusnpmDescription
Summary
The create_function(args, code) function passes both parameters directly to the Function constructor without any sanitization, allowing arbitrary code execution.
This is distinct from CVE-2026-29091 (GHSA-fp25-p6mj-qqg6) which was call_user_func_array using eval() in v2.x. This finding affects create_function using new Function() in v3.x.
Root Cause
src/php/funchand/create_function.ts:17:
return new Function(...params, code)
Zero input validation on either parameter.
PoC
const { create_function } = require('locutus/php/funchand/create_function');
const rce = create_function('', 'return require("child_process").execSync("id").toString()');
console.log(rce());
// Output: uid=501(user) gid=20(staff) ...
Confirmed on locutus v3.0.11, Node.js v24.13.1.
Impact
Full RCE when an attacker can control either argument to create_function(). 597K weekly npm downloads.
Suggested Fix
Remove create_function or replace new Function() with a safe alternative. PHP itself deprecated create_function() in PHP 7.2 for the same reason.
Response
Thanks for the report.
We confirmed that php/funchand/create_function was still present through [email protected] and that it exposed dynamic code execution via new Function(...).
While this was intended behavior, create_function() inherently needs to be unsafe in order for it to work, create_function() was deprecated in PHP 7.2 and removed in PHP 8.0. Given that Locutus' parity target today is 8.3, this function shouldn't have been in Locutus at all anymore.
We fixed this in [email protected] by removing php/funchand/create_function entirely. That matches our PHP 8.3 parity target more closely: .
We also updated php/var/var_export so closures now export using the PHP 8-style \Closure::__set_state(array(...)) form instead of referencing the removed API.
Release:
- npm:
[email protected] - GitHub release: https://github.com/locutusjs/locutus/releases/tag/v3.0.14
Credit to @ByamB4 for the report.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | locutus | all versions | 3.0.14npm install locutus@3.0.14 |
Affected Products
locutuslocutusDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for locutus, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update locutus to 3.0.14 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-32304 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-2026-32304 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.