CVE-2011-4195 in Studio Extension for System z
Summary
by MITRE
kiwi before 4.98.05, as used in SUSE Studio Onsite 1.2 before 1.2.1 and SUSE Studio Extension for System z 1.2 before 1.2.1, allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters in an image name.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/11/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2011-4195 represents a critical command injection flaw affecting the kiwi software component used in SUSE Studio environments. This issue specifically impacts versions prior to 4.98.05 and affects SUSE Studio Onsite 1.2 before 1.2.1 and SUSE Studio Extension for System z 1.2 before 1.2.1. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the image name processing functionality, creating a pathway for malicious actors to execute arbitrary commands on the affected systems.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of shell metacharacters within image names. When the kiwi system processes user-provided image names, it fails to properly sanitize or escape special shell characters such as semicolons, ampersands, backticks, or other command delimiters. This allows attackers to inject malicious shell commands that get executed within the context of the kiwi process, potentially with elevated privileges depending on the system configuration. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-78, which describes improper neutralization of special elements used in shell commands, making it a classic command injection vulnerability.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to organizations using SUSE Studio environments for system image creation and management. Attackers could leverage this weakness to execute arbitrary code on the build servers, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or the installation of persistent backdoors. The impact extends beyond immediate command execution as it could enable attackers to access underlying infrastructure, modify build processes, or compromise the integrity of system images being generated. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where untrusted users have the ability to specify image names during the build process, creating a high-risk scenario for continuous integration and deployment pipelines.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2011-4195 requires immediate patching of affected systems to version 4.98.05 or later, which includes proper input sanitization and command escaping mechanisms. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as input validation at multiple layers, including application-level filtering of special characters in user inputs, mandatory sanitization of image names before processing, and the implementation of least privilege principles for kiwi processes. Network segmentation and monitoring for suspicious command execution patterns can provide additional detection capabilities. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.001 for command and script interpreters, specifically targeting shell command execution through injection attacks. Regular security assessments and penetration testing of build environments should be conducted to identify similar injection vulnerabilities in other components of the system infrastructure.