GHSA-999r-qq7v-r334 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) OS Command Injection vulnerability in aws-cdk-lib. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-999r-qq7v-r334 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
aws-cdk-lib: OS Command Injection in NodejsFunction Bundling
Real-World Exposure
aws-cdk-libReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Summary
AWS CDK (aws-cdk-lib) is an open-source framework for defining cloud infrastructure in code and provisioning it through AWS CloudFormation. OS command injection in the NodejsFunction local bundling pipeline in aws-cdk-lib before 2.245.0 (2.246.0 on Windows) might allow a threat actor who controls the value of one or more bundling properties (externalModules, define, loader, inject, or esbuildArgs) to execute arbitrary commands on the host running the CDK toolchain via injected shell metacharacters. This issue requires the threat actor to control the value of one or more of the affected bundling properties in the CDK application.
Impact
During local Lambda bundling, NodejsFunction assembled an esbuild command string from the bundling properties externalModules, define, loader, inject, and esbuildArgs and executed it via a shell (bash -c on Linux/macOS, cmd /c on Windows) through spawnSync. The property values were interpolated without escaping or validation, so values containing shell metacharacters could execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running cdk synth, cdk deploy, or cdk diff. Exploitation requires a threat actor to control one or more of the affected property values in the CDK application — for example via an untrusted npm dependency that vends a wrapper construct, or via a pull request that introduces untrusted values.
Impacted versions:
< 2.245.0 (on Windows, < 2.246.0)
Patches
This issue has been addressed in aws-cdk-lib version 2.245.0 (PR #37292), with a Windows-specific regression fix in 2.246.0 (PR #37412). The fix replaces shell-based command execution with array-based spawnSync invocation that does not invoke a shell. We recommend upgrading to the latest version and ensuring any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes.
Workarounds
Ensure the values supplied to NodejsFunction bundling properties (externalModules, define, loader, inject, esbuildArgs) originate only from trusted sources, and audit third-party constructs and pull requests that set them. Upgrading to a fixed version is the recommended remediation.
References
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, we ask that you contact AWS Security via our vulnerability reporting page or directly via email to [email protected]. Please do not create a public GitHub issue.
Acknowledgement
AWS would like to thank the external researcher Hesham Ashraf who reported this issue through the AWS Vulnerability Disclosure Program (HackerOne) for collaborating on it through the coordinated vulnerability disclosure process.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | aws-cdk-lib | all versions | 2.246.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for aws-cdk-lib. 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.
Fix
Update aws-cdk-lib to 2.246.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-999r-qq7v-r334 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-999r-qq7v-r334 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-999r-qq7v-r334. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-999r-qq7v-r334 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-999r-qq7v-r334 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.