JabRef CAYW Sublime Text integration permits operating-system command injection

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API

Summary

CVECVE-2026-53534
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-09-17 22:16:59 UTC
Updated2026-09-24 21:17:43 UTC
DescriptionJabRef is a desktop application for managing BibTeX and BibLaTeX libraries. Prior to 6.0-alpha.6, when jabsrv or JabRef's built-in HTTP server is enabled, the GET /better-bibtex/cayw endpoint accepts an external command query parameter and CAYWQueryParams.getCommand() passes it through CAYWResource.getCitation() into PushToSublimeText.getCommandLine(). On Unix-like systems, PushToSublimeText combines this untrusted cite-command prefix and citation keys into a string executed through sh -c by ProcessBuilder without shell escaping. A client that can cause a localhost request with application=sublime can inject shell metacharacters and execute operating-system commands as the JabRef user when a valid Sublime Text command path is configured and the victim completes the CAYW selection dialog. The built-in server is disabled by default, so exploitation requires the victim to enable it or run jabsrv. This issue is fixed in version 6.0-alpha.6.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 7.5 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

EPSS: 0.004470000 probability, percentile 0.362050000 (date 2026-09-25)

Problem Types: CWE-78 | CWE-78 CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary7.5HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNADECLARED7.5HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
Present
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Active
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA JabRef Jabref affected < 6.0-alpha.6 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/JabRef/jabref/commit/b8663fe58e6c87c3927cdb4eeb1f6934d7c3f1d2 [email protected] github.com
github.com/JabRef/jabref/security/advisories/GHSA-m42c-cw93-p629 [email protected] github.com
github.com/JabRef/jabref/releases/tag/v6.0-alpha.6 [email protected] github.com
github.com/JabRef/jabref/pull/15628 [email protected] github.com
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