vulnerability / NVI-00005488 / Revision 2
Pheditor: Terminal command-allowlist bypass via argument injection leads to RCE — surviving vector after the metacharacter-sanitization fixes
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for pheditor/pheditor. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
8.8 high
GitHub source severity; exploitability and local consequence require separate evidence.
As of · GitHub Advisory Database
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
pheditor/pheditor
source listed<= 2.0.6
### Summary pheditor's terminal feature restricts callers to an allowlist of commands (`TERMINAL_COMMANDS`) and rejects shell metacharacters. The allowlist is enforced as a PREFIX match with no argument validation, and the allowlist includes binaries that grant arbitrary command execution through their own options (`find`, `git`, `php`, `tar`, `grep`). A caller can therefore run any command using only allowlisted binaries and no rejected metacharacter, escaping the allowlist restriction the terminal feature relies on. ### Relationship to the prior terminal advisories (this is a surviving, distinct vector) The prior terminal advisories were all shell-metacharacter injections: GHSA-9643-6xjp-vx57 (`$()`), GHSA-wg4w-wr5q-6vjc (`|`, backtick, newline), GHSA-jvc5-58fv-w8cq (`;` via the dir field). The current code rejects those characters. This report is a different class — CWE-88 argument injection through an allowlisted binary's flags — which the metacharacter denylist does not address. ### Root cause (HEAD, v2.0.6) In the `terminal` action handler of `pheditor.php`: 1. `:588` rejects `&`, `;`, `|`, `$`, backtick, `\n`, `\r`. It does NOT reject space, `-`, `{`, `}`, `+`, `/`, `.`
pheditor/pheditor
source listedECOSYSTEM: introduced 0; fixed 2.0.7
### Summary pheditor's terminal feature restricts callers to an allowlist of commands (`TERMINAL_COMMANDS`) and rejects shell metacharacters. The allowlist is enforced as a PREFIX match with no argument validation, and the allowlist includes binaries that grant arbitrary command execution through their own options (`find`, `git`, `php`, `tar`, `grep`). A caller can therefore run any command using only allowlisted binaries and no rejected metacharacter, escaping the allowlist restriction the terminal feature relies on. ### Relationship to the prior terminal advisories (this is a surviving, distinct vector) The prior terminal advisories were all shell-metacharacter injections: GHSA-9643-6xjp-vx57 (`$()`), GHSA-wg4w-wr5q-6vjc (`|`, backtick, newline), GHSA-jvc5-58fv-w8cq (`;` via the dir field). The current code rejects those characters. This report is a different class — CWE-88 argument injection through an allowlisted binary's flags — which the metacharacter denylist does not address. ### Root cause (HEAD, v2.0.6) In the `terminal` action handler of `pheditor.php`: 1. `:588` rejects `&`, `;`, `|`, `$`, backtick, `\n`, `\r`. It does NOT reject space, `-`, `{`, `}`, `+`, `/`, `.`
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
- vendor patch
The original advisory lists fixed boundaries 2.0.7 for pheditor/pheditor. Confirm the publisher’s latest guidance.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database via OSV
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
Each assertion retains its source. Mirrored records may repeat one underlying publisher; additional links are not independent corroboration.
- GHSA-g3hq-hphg-8fhh ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
Observed . GitHub Advisory Database; CC-BY-4.0. Each advisory links its original attribution. Null normalizes fields.
- GHSA-g3hq-hphg-8fhh ↗
GitHub Advisory Database via OSV · vendor advisory
Observed . GitHub-origin advisory, CC-BY-4.0; OSV is an aggregate copy, not independent corroboration.
Public revision history
Only published revisions appear here. Routine fetches do not create a material-change event.
- Revision 2 ·
Source facts changed; compare the preserved prior revision.
- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.