CVE-2026-37751 in ai-maestro
Summary
by MITRE • 08/28/2026
An OS command injection vulnerability in the killSessionSync function (lib/agent-runtime.ts) of 23blocks-OS ai-maestro v0.24.17 allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands via a crafted input.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/28/2026
The identified vulnerability represents a critical security flaw within the AI Maestro component of the 23blocks OS, specifically located in the killSessionSync function found in the lib/agent-runtime.ts module. This issue is classified as an Operating System Command Injection, which falls under CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command. The root cause lies in the application's failure to properly sanitize or validate user-supplied input before passing it to a system shell for execution. In this specific context, the killSessionSync function appears to accept parameters intended to identify and terminate active AI agent sessions but lacks adequate safeguards against maliciously crafted strings that contain command separators such as semicolons, pipes, or ampersands.
When an attacker provides input containing these special characters along with arbitrary system commands, the underlying shell interprets them not merely as session identifiers but as executable instructions. This allows for the injection of additional commands into the execution pipeline managed by the operating system's command interpreter. The technical mechanism relies on the fact that many programming languages and frameworks utilize OS-level shells to execute process termination requests or background tasks. If these interfaces do strictly enforce input validation, an adversary can exploit this trust boundary to bypass intended functionality. For instance, instead of simply killing a session with ID 12345, an attacker could supply an input like "12345; rm -rf /" which would first terminate the specified session and then proceed to execute the destructive file removal command on the host system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe, potentially leading to full remote code execution with the privileges assigned to the process running the 23blocks OS AI Maestro service. Depending on the deployment configuration, if the application runs as a privileged user such as root or SYSTEM, an attacker gains complete control over the underlying infrastructure. This can result in data exfiltration, modification of system configurations, installation of persistent backdoors, or denial of service through resource exhaustion. Even if running with limited privileges, the attacker could pivot to other systems within the network by leveraging compromised credentials found on the host machine. The vulnerability aligns with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1059: Command and Scripting Interpreter, specifically sub-techniques involving shell commands like cmd.exe or bash, which are commonly used in post-exploitation phases to maintain access and escalate privileges.
Mitigation strategies must focus on eliminating the direct use of OS command interpreters where possible. The most effective remediation is to refactor the killSessionSync function to utilize native process management APIs provided by the operating system rather than invoking shell commands through a string-based interface. For example, in Node.js environments, using child_process.spawn or execFile with an array argument for arguments ensures that inputs are treated strictly as data parameters and not as part of the command syntax. If shell invocation is unavoidable due to legacy constraints, strict input validation must be implemented. This includes whitelisting allowed characters, rejecting any input containing special shell metacharacters such as ;, |, &, $, `, or \, and ensuring that all inputs are properly escaped using language-specific escaping functions before being passed to the system. Additionally, implementing principle of least privilege by running the AI Maestro service with minimal required permissions can significantly reduce the blast radius in the event of a successful exploitation attempt. Regular security audits and static application security testing should be integrated into the development lifecycle to detect such injection flaws early.