GHSA-R825-W8MM-5PXW
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-20 19:51 – Updated: 2026-10-20 19:51Summary
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
launchEditorcan 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.
{
"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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