Executive brief
UAC (Unix-like Artifacts Collector) is a tool used by security professionals to collect forensic data from Unix-like systems. A vulnerability in how the tool processes system information allows an attacker to execute unauthorized commands on the machine where the tool is running. This could lead to a full system compromise or data theft if the tool is used to scan a compromised system containing malicious filenames or user accounts.
Technical details
A command injection vulnerability exists in UAC's `_run_command()` function, which passes constructed command strings directly to the `eval` shell command without proper sanitization. The flaw is triggered during the substitution of placeholders such as `%line%`, `%user%`, and `%user_home%`. An attacker can achieve arbitrary command execution with the privileges of the UAC process by placing shell metacharacters or command substitutions into system files (like /etc/passwd) or iterator inputs that UAC subsequently processes. The issue is fixed in version 3.3.0-rc1 by escaping runtime placeholders before evaluation.
Affected products
- tclahr UAC (Unix-like Artifacts Collector) before 3.3.0-rc1
Timeline
- 2026-03-15: patched: Initial fix to escape placeholders before eval
- 2026-04-08: disclosed: CVE published
- 2026-04-08: advisory
References
- https://github.com/tclahr/uac/commit/50ace60e172e38feb78347bdf579311c23eff078
- https://github.com/tclahr/uac/commit/cb95d7166cd47908e1189d9669e43f9a6d3d707f
- https://github.com/tclahr/uac/commit/d0fca5e36d8d6a33a4404f0f6fe92b0424544589
- https://github.com/tclahr/uac/issues/429
- https://github.com/tclahr/uac/pull/443
- https://mobasi.ai/sentinel
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/uac-rc1-command-injection-via-placeholder-substitution