GHSA-w7jw-789q-3m8p
shell-quote quote() does not escape newlines in object .op values
Details
### Summary
`shell-quote`'s `quote()` function did not validate object-token inputs against the operator model used by `parse()`. The `.op` field was backslash-escaped character by character using `/(.)/g`, which in JavaScript does not match line terminators (`\n`, `\r`, U+2028, U+2029). A line terminator in `.op` therefore passed through unescaped into the output; POSIX shells treat a literal `\n` as a command separator, so any content after it would execute as a second command.
The vulnerable code path is reachable in two ways. Neither requires the parser to misbehave — `parse()` only emits ops from a fixed control set — but both are documented API surface:
1. **Direct construction.** A caller builds `{ op: '...\n...' }` from external input (e.g. a deserialized argument array) and passes it to `quote()`. 2. **`envFn` return.** `parse(cmd, envFn)` is documented to splice the return value of `envFn` into the result array when it is an object. An attacker-influenced data source consulted by `envFn` can introduce an object token whose `.op` reaches `quote()`.
### Impact
Shell command injection in callers that pass object tokens with attacker-influenced `.op` values to `quote()` and then hand the result to a shell. The preconditions are narrower than ordinary string injection — they require the caller to feed object tokens into `quote()` — but object tokens are a public, documented part of the API surface, and `quote()` is intended to be a shell-safety boundary.
### PoC
```js const { parse, quote } = require('shell-quote');
// Direct construction quote([{ op: ';\nid' }]); // → "\;\n\\i\\d" ← literal newline; second line executes as a command
// Via parse() with an envFn returning attacker-shaped objects const tokens = parse('echo $X', () => ({ op: ';\nid' })); require('child_process').execSync(quote(tokens), { shell: true }); // Executes `id` after `echo \;`. ```
Confirmed under `sh`, `bash`, `dash`, and `zsh`.
### Patch
Fixed by replacing the per-character escape with strict shape validation in `quote()`. The object-token branch now:
- **`{ op }`** — `.op` must be a string from the same allowlist the parser emits (`||`, `&&`, `;;`, `|&`, `<(`, `<<<`, `>>`, `>&`, `<&`, `&`, `;`, `(`, `)`, `|`, `<`, `>`). Anything else throws `TypeError`. This is the direct fix for the reported issue and removes the entire class of `.op` injection. - **`{ op: 'glob', pattern }`** — `.pattern` must be a string with no line terminators. Glob metacharacters (`*`, `?`, `[`, `]`, `{`, `}`, `,`) pass through; all other shell-special characters are backslash-escaped. (Previously the pattern field was discarded entirely and the literal string `\g\l\o\b` was emitted — a latent bug, not security-relevant.) - **`{ comment }`** — `.comment` must be a string with no line terminators (line terminators would end the shell comment and resume command parsing — same injection shape). - **Any other object shape** — `TypeError`.
The fix is allowlist-based rather than a targeted regex tweak, so it closes the reported vector and forecloses adjacent ones (U+2028 / U+2029 line separators in `.op`, line terminators in comments, unknown-shape objects coerced through `.replace`).
### Workarounds
Prior to upgrading, callers that build object tokens from untrusted input should validate `.op` against the parser's operator set themselves, and never construct `{ op }` from attacker-controlled strings.
### Credits
Reported by Akshat Sinha
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Affected packages
References
- https://github.com/ljharb/shell-quote/security/advisories/GHSA-w7jw-789q-3m8p [WEB]
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-9277 [ADVISORY]
- https://github.com/ljharb/shell-quote/commit/1518179 [WEB]
- https://github.com/ljharb/shell-quote [PACKAGE]
- https://www.npmjs.com/package/shell-quote [WEB]
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/05/23/2 [WEB]