GHSA-jfqx-fxh3-c62j CVE-2026-34768
Electron: Unquoted executable path in app.setLoginItemSettings on Windows
- Severity
- 3.9 / 10
- High · CVSS 3.1
- Exploit chance (EPSS)
- 0.13%
- Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 2.76% of scored vulnerabilities.
- Known exploited
- No
- Not in CISA's catalog
- Weakness
- CWE-428 Unquoted Search Path or Element
- Fix
38.8.6- Upgrade electron to this version or later
Description
Impact
On Windows, app.setLoginItemSettings({openAtLogin: true}) wrote the executable path to the Run registry key without quoting. If the app is installed to a path containing spaces, an attacker with write access to an ancestor directory may be able to cause a different executable to run at login instead of the intended app.
On a default Windows install, standard system directories are protected against writes by standard users, so exploitation typically requires a non-standard install location.
Workarounds
Install the application to a path without spaces, or to a location where all ancestor directories are protected against unauthorized writes.
Fixed Versions
41.0.0-beta.840.8.039.8.138.8.6
For more information
If there are any questions or comments about this advisory, send an email to security@electronjs.org
Affected versions
npm
| Package | Vulnerable | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| electron | < 38.8.6 |
38.8.6 |
| electron | >= 39.0.0-alpha.1, < 39.8.1 |
39.8.1 |
| electron | >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.8.0 |
40.8.0 |
| electron | >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.0.0-beta.8 |
41.0.0-beta.8 |
How to fix
Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.
electron npm → 38.8.6
- npm
npm install electron@38.8.6- yarn
yarn add electron@38.8.6- pnpm
pnpm add electron@38.8.6
Severity breakdown
CVSS 3.1 3.9
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- High
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
Weakness
CWE-428: Unquoted Search Path or Element
The product uses a search path that contains an unquoted element, in which the element contains whitespace or other separators. This can cause the product to access resources in a parent path.
How to prevent it
- Implementation: Properly quote the full search path before executing a program on the system.
- Implementation: Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue." Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
- Implementation: Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked.
References
Advisories
Packages
Other links
Timeline
- Published
- Last updated by the source
- Latest EPSS score
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