Malicious plugin names, recipients, or identities can cause arbitrary binary execution

A plugin name containing a path separator may allow an attacker to execute an arbitrary binary. Such a plugin name can be provided through an attacker-controlled input to the following `age` APIs when the `plugin` feature flag is enabled: - [`age::plugin::Identity::from_str`](https://docs.rs/age/0.11.0/age/plugin/struct.Identity.html#impl-FromStr-for-Identity) (or equivalently [`str::parse::<age::plugin::Identity>()`](https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/core/primitive.str.html#method.parse)) - [`age::plugin::Identity::default_for_plugin`](https://docs.rs/age/0.11.0/age/plugin/struct.Identity.html#method.default_for_plugin) - [`age::plugin::IdentityPluginV1::new`](https://docs.rs/age/0.11.0/age/plugin/struct.IdentityPluginV1.html#method.new) (the `plugin_name` argument) - [`age::plugin::Recipient::from_str`](https://docs.rs/age/0.11.0/age/plugin/struct.Recipient.html#impl-FromStr-for-Recipient) (or equivalently [`str::parse::<age::plugin::Recipient>()`](https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/core/primitive.str.html#method.parse)) - [`age::plugin::RecipientPluginV1::new`](https://docs.rs/age/0.11.0/age/plugin/struct.RecipientPluginV1.html#method.new) (the `plugin_name` argument) On UNIX systems, a directory matching `age-plugin-*` needs to exist in the working directory for the attack to succeed. The binary is executed with a single flag, either `--age-plugin=recipient-v1` or `--age-plugin=identity-v1`. The standard input includes the recipient or identity string, and the random file key (if encrypting) or the header of the file (if decrypting). The format is constrained by the [age-plugin](https://c2sp.org/age-plugin) protocol. An equivalent issue was fixed in [the reference Go implementation of age](https://github.com/FiloSottile/age), see advisory [GHSA-32gq-x56h-299c](https://github.com/FiloSottile/age/security/advisories/GHSA-32gq-x56h-299c). Thanks to ⬡-49016 for reporting this issue.

Source published

18 Dec 2024 12:00:00 UTC

Source modified

12 Oct 2026 18:00:12 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:54 UTC

Source terms

OSV · upstream source license applies

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · OSV · upstream source license applies. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.