Executive brief
tree-kill is a Node.js library used to terminate processes and their child processes. Versions before 1.2.2 fail to properly sanitize user input passed to the kill function on Windows systems, allowing an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary shell commands with the privileges of the application using the library.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a command injection flaw (CWE-94) in the tree-kill npm package prior to version 1.2.2. The kill function fails to properly sanitize process IDs or other values passed to it before constructing and executing shell commands. On Windows systems, unsanitized user-controlled input can be injected into the command string, allowing execution of arbitrary commands. The attack requires the application to pass untrusted input to tree-kill's kill function. The vulnerability was patched in version 1.2.2 with improved input sanitization and additional test coverage.
Affected products
- npm tree-kill < 1.2.2
Timeline
- 2020-09-04: disclosed
- 1.2.2: patched: Fix released with improved sanitization and tests