ZX Allows Environment Variable Injection for dotenv API

CVE-2025-24959 → View on GitHub ↗ View on CVE.org ↗ View on NVD ↗

Description

Impact

This vulnerability is an Environment Variable Injection issue in dotenv.stringify, affecting google/zx version 8.3.1.

An attacker with control over environment variable values can inject unintended environment variables into process.env. This can lead to arbitrary command execution or unexpected behavior in applications that rely on environment variables for security-sensitive operations. Applications that process untrusted input and pass it through dotenv.stringify are particularly vulnerable.

Patches

This issue has been patched in version 8.3.2. Users should immediately upgrade to this version to mitigate the vulnerability.

Workarounds

If upgrading is not feasible, users can mitigate the vulnerability by sanitizing user-controlled environment variable values before passing them to dotenv.stringify. Specifically, avoid using ", ', and backticks in values, or enforce strict validation of environment variables before usage.

References

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2025-02-03 22:34:08 UTC
Updated
2025-02-04 17:29:13 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2025-02-03 22:34:08 UTC
NVD published
2025-02-03 21:15:15 UTC

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.06% 17.48%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
5.2 3.1 —
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-qwp8-x4ff-5h87 ↗
CVE CVE-2025-24959 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-74 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')

Credits

  • arkark (finder)

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
npm zx = 8.3.1 8.3.2 —

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence