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GHSA-44vr-rwwj-p88h

CRITICAL

Shescape vulnerable to insufficient escaping of whitespace

Also known asCVE-2022-31180
Published
Jul 15, 2022
Updated
Nov 8, 2023
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
1 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
1.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk71th percentile+0.43%
0.53%1.02%1.52%2.01%1.0%1.5%Dec 25Apr 26Jun 26

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

1 pkg affected

Weekly download volume for affected packages — a proxy for how broadly this vulnerability is deployed.

shescapenpm
19Kdownloads / week

Description

Impact

This only impacts users that use the escape or escapeAll functions with the interpolation option set to true. Example:

import cp from "node:child_process";
import * as shescape from "shescape";

// 1. Prerequisites
const options = {
  shell: "bash",
  // Or
  shell: "dash",
  // Or
  shell: "powershell.exe",
  // Or
  shell: "zsh",
  // Or
  shell: undefined, // Only if the default shell is one of the affected shells.
};

// 2. Attack (one of multiple)
const payload = "foo #bar";

// 3. Usage
let escapedPayload;
shescape.escape(payload, { interpolation: true });
// Or
shescape.escapeAll(payload, { interpolation: true });

cp.execSync(`echo Hello ${escapedPayload}!`, options);
// _Output depends on the shell being used_

The result is that if an attacker is able to include whitespace in their input they can:

  1. Invoke shell-specific behaviour through shell-specific special characters inserted directly after whitespace.
    • Affected shells: Bash, Dash, Zsh, PowerShell
  2. Invoke shell-specific behaviour through shell-specific special characters inserted or appearing after line terminating characters.
    • Affected shells: Bash
  3. Invoke arbitrary commands by inserting a line feed character.
    • Affected Shells: Bash, Dash, Zsh, PowerShell
  4. Invoke arbitrary commands by inserting a carriage return character.
    • Affected Shells: PowerShell

Patches

Behaviour number 1 has been patched in v1.5.7 which you can upgrade to now. No further changes are required.

Behaviour number 2, 3, and 4 have been patched in v1.5.8 which you can upgrade to now. No further changes are required.

Workarounds

The best workaround is to avoid having to use the interpolation: true option - in most cases using an alternative is possible, see the recipes for recommendations.

Alternatively, you can strip all whitespace from user input. Note that this is error prone, for example: for PowerShell this requires stripping '\u0085' which is not included in JavaScript's definition of \s for Regular Expressions.

References

For more information

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
📦npmshescape≥ 1.4.0&&< 1.5.81.5.8
Exploits & PoCs
1

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

Shescape is a simple shell escape package for JavaScript. Affected versi…

github.comNVDAug 2022

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for shescape. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.

  2. Fix

    Update shescape to 1.5.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-44vr-rwwj-p88h is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-44vr-rwwj-p88h is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Tailored to GHSA-44vr-rwwj-p88h. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact This only impacts users that use the `escape` or `escapeAll` functions with the `interpolation` option set to `true`. Example: ```javascript import cp from "node:child_process"; import * as shescape from "shescape"; // 1. Prerequisites const options = { shell: "bash", // Or shell: "dash", // Or shell: "powershell.exe", // Or shell: "zsh", // Or shell: undefined, // Only if the default shell is one of the affected shells. }; // 2. Attack (one of multiple) const payload = "foo #bar"; // 3. Usage let escapedPayload; shescape.escape(payload, { interpolation: true
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-44vr-rwwj-p88h in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-44vr-rwwj-p88h across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works