Executive brief
systeminformation is a Node.js library that collects system and network information. The networkInterfaces() function on Linux is vulnerable to OS command injection through the Debian/Ubuntu network interfaces configuration file. An attacker who can write or influence entries in /etc/network/interfaces can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Node.js process calling this function—a serious risk for system monitoring agents, inventory tools, or admin dashboards that commonly use elevated privileges.
Technical details
The vulnerability exists in lib/network.js, specifically in the checkLinuxDCHPInterfaces() function, which parses /etc/network/interfaces to collect DHCP interface information. The function reads "source <path>" directives and recursively processes sourced files, but fails to escape the path token before interpolating it into a shell command passed to execSync(). The vulnerable code executes: `cat ${file} 2> /dev/null | grep 'iface\|source'` where ${file} comes from file content with no sanitization. An attacker can inject shell metacharacters (semicolons, command substitution, pipes, etc.) into any path within the source chain, achieving arbitrary command execution. The attack precondition is write access to /etc/network/interfaces or any file it sources, achievable by lower-privileged processes, configuration-management tools, or external inputs that materialize interfaces snippets. networkInterfaces() is a core, frequently-called API also reachable via getStaticData() and getAllData(), ensuring widespread exploitation on affected deployments. A patch in version 5.31.7 converts the unquoted interpolation to argument-array execution, preventing shell interpretation.
Affected products
- sebhildebrandt systeminformation <= 5.31.6
Timeline
- 2026-07-15: disclosed: GHSA-5xpp-75jx-m839 published
- 2026-07-15: patched: Fix released in version 5.31.7
- 2026-06-05: other: Advisory created on GitHub
- 2026-09-10: other: Advisory modified
References
- https://github.com/sebhildebrandt/systeminformation/security/advisories/GHSA-5xpp-75jx-m839
- https://github.com/sebhildebrandt/systeminformation/commit/bbfddde48672d0ee124fefdb3cb4442fd9dd4f03
- https://github.com/sebhildebrandt/systeminformation
- https://github.com/sebhildebrandt/systeminformation/releases/tag/v5.31.7