z-libs Zen-C up to 0.4.1 system os command injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as critical has been found in z-libs Zen-C up to 0.4.1. Affected by this vulnerability is the function system. Executing a manipulation can lead to os command injection. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-28207. It is possible to launch the attack on the local host. There is not any exploit available. The affected component should be upgraded.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in z-libs Zen-C up to 0.4.1 and classified as critical. This vulnerability affects the function system. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a os command injection vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is 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. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Zen C is a systems programming language that compiles to human-readable GNU C/C11. Prior to version 0.4.2, a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the Zen C compiler allows local attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands by providing a specially crafted output filename via the `-o` command-line argument. The vulnerability existed in the `main` application logic (specifically in `src/main.c`), where the compiler constructed a shell command string to invoke the backend C compiler. This command string was built by concatenating various arguments, including the user-controlled output filename, and was subsequently executed using the `system()` function. Because `system()` invokes a shell to parse and execute the command, shell metacharacters within the output filename were interpreted by the shell, leading to arbitrary command execution. An attacker who can influence the command-line arguments passed to the `zc` compiler (like through a build script or a CI/CD pipeline configuration) can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running the compiler. The vulnerability has been fixed in version 0.4.2 by removing `system()` calls, implementing `ArgList`, and internal argument handling. Users are advised to update to Zen C version v0.4.2 or later.

The advisory is available at github.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-28207 since 02/25/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. Local access is required to approach this attack. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. This vulnerability is assigned to T1202 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

Upgrading to version 0.4.2 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• z-libs

Name

• Zen-C

Version

• 0.4.0
• 0.4.1

Website

• Product: https://github.com/z-libs/Zen-C/

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