CVE-2026-44461
Command Injection in Zed Code Editor
Publication date: 2026-05-28
Last updated on: 2026-05-28
Assigner: GitHub, Inc.
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| zed | zed | to 0.227.1 (exc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-78 | The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability exists in the Zed code editor versions prior to 0.227.1. Zed builds SSH/WSL remote commands as a shell command string starting with 'exec env ...', but it inserts environment variable keys without any shell quoting or validation.
If an attacker can control an environment variable key, for example through project terminal settings, shell expansions within the key (such as $(...)) are executed by the remote shell when a terminal is opened.
This behavior allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the remote host under the victim user's account.
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
The vulnerability can lead to arbitrary command execution on the remote host with the privileges of the victim user.
This means an attacker could run malicious commands remotely, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, or further attacks within the affected environment.
Because the attacker can execute commands remotely, the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of the affected system and its data can be severely impacted.
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
To mitigate this vulnerability, update Zed to version 0.227.1 or later, where the issue is fixed.