GHSA-R825-W8MM-5PXW

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-20 19:51 – Updated: 2026-10-20 19:51
VLAI
Summary
launch-editor: Editor CLI flag misinterpretation causing arbitrary command execution for some editors
Details

Summary

launch-editor forwarded file paths directly to editors without sanitization. If a path resembles a CLI flag, editors like Vim may interpret it as a command, potentially causing unintended file overwrites or command execution.

Impact

Direct launch-editor users

Only apps that match all of the following conditions are affected:

  • The attacker is able to create a file system entry (e.g. a file or directory) starting with + or - in the working directory
  • The user uses or the app specifies any of the following editors:
  • Vim (including gVim)
  • MacVim
  • Emacs (including Emacsclient)
  • Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)
  • The first argument of launchEditor can start with + or - or the user is using WSL

launch-editor-middleware users

Only apps that match the following conditions are affected:

  • The attacker is able to create a file system entry (e.g. a file or directory) starting with + or - in the working directory
  • The user uses or the app specifies any of the following editors:
  • Vim (including gVim)
  • MacVim
  • Emacs (including Emacsclient)
  • Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)
  • launch-editor older than v2.2.0 is used, or the user is using WSL

Vite users

Only apps that match the following conditions are affected:

  • The attacker is able to create a file system entry (e.g. a file or directory) starting with + or - in the working directory
  • The user uses or the app specifies any of the following editors:
  • Vim (including gVim)
  • MacVim
  • Emacs (including Emacsclient)
  • Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)
  • The user is using WSL

Details

launchEditor(file) function passes the file name as-is to the editor if the file with that file name exists. If the file name starts with - (also + for Vim), the editor treats them as flags rather than positional arguments. For example, Vim treats arguments starting with + as an Ex command. As a result, an existing relative directory such as:

+call writefile(["SAFE_MARKER"],"LAUNCH_EDITOR_MARKER")|qa!

is not treated as a filename when passed to Vim. Vim executes the embedded Ex command.

The following editor has a potentially destructive operation exposed to the CLI arguments: - Vim (including gVim) - MacVim - Emacs (including Emacsclient) - Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)

launch-editor-middleware v2.2.0+ converts the passed file path to an absolute path so those are not affected as long as the user is not using WSL. For WSL, launch-editor converts the paths to relative paths internally, so those are still affected.

Vite 2.0.0+ uses launch-editor-middleware v2.2.0+ so the WSL users are only affected.

Show details on source website

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 2.14.1"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "launch-editor"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "2.14.2"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 8.3.2"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "vite"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "8.3.0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "8.3.3"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 8.2.3"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "vite"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "8.2.0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "8.2.4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 8.1.5"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "vite"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "8.0.0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "8.1.6"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 7.3.6"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "vite"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "7.0.0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "7.3.7"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 6.4.3"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "vite"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "6.4.4"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "last_known_affected_version_range": "\u003c= 1.0.0"
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "npm",
        "name": "vite-plus"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1.1.0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-112944"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-88"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-10-20T19:51:52Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-10-20T15:17:17Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "### Summary\n\n`launch-editor` forwarded file paths directly to editors without sanitization. If a path resembles a CLI flag, editors like Vim may interpret it as a command, potentially causing unintended file overwrites or command execution.\n\n### Impact\n\n#### Direct `launch-editor` users\n\nOnly apps that match all of the following conditions are affected:\n\n- The attacker is able to create a file system entry (e.g. a file or directory) starting with `+` or `-` in the working directory\n- The user uses or the app specifies any of the following editors:\n  - Vim (including gVim)\n  - MacVim\n  - Emacs (including Emacsclient)\n  - Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)\n- The first argument of `launchEditor` can start with `+` or `-` or the user is using WSL\n\n#### `launch-editor-middleware` users\n\nOnly apps that match the following conditions are affected:\n\n- The attacker is able to create a file system entry (e.g. a file or directory) starting with `+` or `-` in the working directory\n- The user uses or the app specifies any of the following editors:\n  - Vim (including gVim)\n  - MacVim\n  - Emacs (including Emacsclient)\n  - Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)\n- launch-editor older than v2.2.0 is used, or the user is using WSL\n\n#### Vite users\n\nOnly apps that match the following conditions are affected:\n\n- The attacker is able to create a file system entry (e.g. a file or directory) starting with `+` or `-` in the working directory\n- The user uses or the app specifies any of the following editors:\n  - Vim (including gVim)\n  - MacVim\n  - Emacs (including Emacsclient)\n  - Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)\n- The user is using WSL\n\n### Details\n\n`launchEditor(file)` function passes the file name as-is to the editor if the file with that file name exists. If the file name starts with `-` (also `+` for Vim), the editor treats them as flags rather than positional arguments. For example, Vim treats arguments starting with `+` as an Ex command. As a result, an existing relative directory such as:\n```\n+call writefile([\"SAFE_MARKER\"],\"LAUNCH_EDITOR_MARKER\")|qa!\n```\nis not treated as a filename when passed to Vim. Vim executes the embedded Ex command.\n\nThe following editor has a potentially destructive operation exposed to the CLI arguments:\n- Vim (including gVim)\n- MacVim\n- Emacs (including Emacsclient)\n- Notepad++ (only if using a plugin exposing dangerous operations via plugin messages)\n\n`launch-editor-middleware` v2.2.0+ converts the passed file path to an absolute path so those are not affected as long as the user is not using WSL. For WSL, `launch-editor` converts the paths to relative paths internally, so those are still affected.\n\nVite 2.0.0+ uses `launch-editor-middleware` v2.2.0+ so the WSL users are only affected.",
  "id": "GHSA-r825-w8mm-5pxw",
  "modified": "2026-10-20T19:51:53Z",
  "published": "2026-10-20T19:51:52Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/vitejs/launch-editor/security/advisories/GHSA-r825-w8mm-5pxw"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-112944"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/vitejs/launch-editor/pull/156"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/vitejs/launch-editor/commit/f6e6701bb1f16f2dd242b321374f1b6cca6eb6d4"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/vitejs/launch-editor"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/vitejs/launch-editor/releases/tag/v2.14.2"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "launch-editor: Editor CLI flag misinterpretation causing arbitrary command execution for some editors"
}



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