nvm-sh nvm up to 0.40.x Remote Version Lookup os command injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in nvm-sh nvm up to 0.40.x. This affects the function nvm_ls_remote_index_tab/nvm_remote_version/nvm_ls_cached of the component Remote Version Lookup. This manipulation causes os command injection. This vulnerability is tracked as CVE-2026-121749. The attack is restricted to local execution. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in nvm-sh nvm up to 0.40.x and classified as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is the function nvm_ls_remote_index_tab/nvm_remote_version/nvm_ls_cached of the component Remote Version Lookup. 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. The summary by CVE is:

Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.5.0 through 0.40.8, the requested version pattern is passed to `grep` as a bare argument, without `-e`, in `nvm_ls_remote_index_tab`, `nvm_remote_version`, and `nvm_ls_cached`. A `.nvmrc` whose first line starts with `-`, such as `-Rohenpm_[A-Za-z0-9]*`, is parsed as grep options; with GNU grep, `-R` searches the current directory recursively (following symlinks) instead of the version list. On a bare `nvm install`, nvm then treats a matched string from those files as the version, prints it, and requests it from the configured mirror inside download URLs, so for example a repository containing a symlink to `../../.npmrc` can leak the user's npm token to the terminal and to the mirror's and any proxy's logs. The disclosure is read-only and limited to the characters `0-9A-Za-z._+-`. Version 0.41.0 passes every version pattern to grep with `-e`.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-121749 since 11/04/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. An attack has to be approached locally. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1202 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 0.41.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• nvm-sh

Name

• nvm

Version

• 0.1
• 0.2
• 0.3
• 0.4
• 0.5
• 0.6
• 0.7
• 0.8
• 0.9
• 0.10
• 0.11
• 0.12
• 0.13
• 0.14
• 0.15
• 0.16
• 0.17
• 0.18
• 0.19
• 0.20
• 0.21
• 0.22
• 0.23
• 0.24
• 0.25
• 0.26
• 0.27
• 0.28
• 0.29
• 0.30
• 0.31
• 0.32
• 0.33
• 0.34
• 0.35
• 0.36
• 0.37
• 0.38
• 0.39
• 0.40

Website

• Product: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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