CVE-2026-88888 in Renovate
Summary
by MITRE • 09/10/2026
Renovate before 44.14.7 contains a command injection vulnerability in the Mix manager when processing private dependencies with unescaped organization parameters. Attackers can inject shell metacharacters through malicious package names to execute arbitrary commands as the Renovate user in binarySource=docker mode.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/10/2026
The identified security flaw resides within the dependency update automation tool Renovate, specifically affecting versions prior to 44.14.7. This vulnerability is classified as a command injection issue that manifests when the software interacts with private package repositories managed by Mix, particularly in environments where binary sources are configured for Docker operations. The core technical deficiency lies in the improper handling of organization parameters associated with these private dependencies. When Renovate processes requests to fetch or update packages from such registries, it constructs shell commands to interact with external tools like curl or wget. However, the organization identifier extracted from the package metadata is not adequately sanitized before being interpolated into these command strings. This lack of input validation allows an attacker who controls a malicious package name within their private repository to inject arbitrary shell metacharacters directly into the execution context of the Renovate process.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses a severe risk because it enables remote code execution under the privileges of the user account running the Renovate service. In typical CI/CD or development workflows, these services often run with elevated permissions to access source control systems and build artifacts. If an attacker can manipulate the package name used in a pull request or dependency update job, they can execute arbitrary commands on the host system where Renovate is deployed. This could lead to the exfiltration of sensitive credentials stored in environment variables, modification of project files, pivoting to other internal network resources, or complete compromise of the underlying infrastructure. The impact is particularly acute because it does not require direct authentication against the target server; rather, exploitation relies on convincing a developer or CI pipeline to merge code that references the malicious package name, thereby triggering the vulnerable command execution during the automated update process.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration identifier CWE-78, which describes Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command, commonly known as OS Command Injection. The attack vector is primarily remote via network services but requires a specific trigger condition involving user-controlled input within package metadata. In the context of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, this behavior corresponds to technique T1059, specifically sub-technique T1059.004 for Unix Shell Commands. The exploitation chain typically involves an adversary creating a malicious repository entry that appears legitimate but contains crafted identifiers designed to break out of the intended command scope once processed by Renovate's Mix manager integration logic.
To mitigate this risk, organizations must immediately upgrade Renovate to version 44.14.7 or later, where the input sanitization for organization parameters has been corrected to prevent shell metacharacter injection. Until an update can be applied, defensive measures should include restricting the permissions of the user account running Renovate to minimize the blast radius in case of exploitation. Additionally, implementing strict allowlists for package names and organizations within private registries can help reduce exposure. Security teams should also audit logs for unusual command executions or unexpected network connections originating from the Renovate service host as part of ongoing monitoring efforts.