systeminformation: Windows command injection in services() through Unicode quotation marks

CISA KEV is observed exploitation evidence. FIRST EPSS is a dated prediction of exploitation in the next 30 days. Missing scores are unknown. This collector requests predictions only for explicit CVE aliases in the public NuGet archive; Microsoft release views retain their existing prediction scope.

No collected risk observation for these identifiers. This does not establish absence of exploitation or a zero probability.

systeminformation is a System and OS information library for node.js. Prior to 5.33.16, services() in lib/processes.js inserts a caller-supplied service name into a PowerShell Get-CimInstance filter after processing it with sanitizeShellString() in lib/util.js. On Windows, the sanitizer removes ASCII quotes but permits Unicode quotation marks that PowerShell accepts as string delimiters, allowing crafted input to terminate the filter and place a PowerShell expression in the command executed by util.powerShell(). The expression runs with the Node.js process account's permissions and may read or change accessible files, alter application data, or disrupt the service. The package does not expose a network service itself, so remote reachability depends on a consuming application forwarding attacker-controlled input to services() or getDynamicData(). This issue is fixed in version 5.33.16.

Source published

26 Oct 2026 20:18:33 UTC

Source modified

26 Oct 2026 20:18:33 UTC

Observed here

26 Oct 2026 21:35:30 UTC

Source terms

CVE Program Terms of Use

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: cve-program · CVE Program Terms of Use. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 3.1 · 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

systeminformation is a System and OS information library for node.js. Prior to 5.33.16, services() in lib/processes.js inserts a caller-supplied service name into a PowerShell Get-CimInstance filter after processing it with sanitizeShellString() in lib/util.js. On Windows, the sanitizer removes ASCII quotes but permits Unicode quotation marks that PowerShell accepts as string delimiters, allowing crafted input to terminate the filter and place a PowerShell expression in the command executed by util.powerShell(). The expression runs with the Node.js process account's permissions and may read or change accessible files, alter application data, or disrupt the service. The package does not expose a network service itself, so remote reachability depends on a consuming application forwarding attacker-controlled input to services() or getDynamicData(). This issue is fixed in version 5.33.16.

Source published

Oct 26, 2026, 8:18:33 PM (timezone not stated)

Source modified

Oct 26, 2026, 8:18:33 PM (timezone not stated)

Observed here

31 Oct 2026 00:45:56 UTC

Source terms

ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: euvd · ENISA EUVD · source terms and attribution apply. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

EUVD CVSS 3.1 · 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

systeminformation is a System and OS information library for node.js. Prior to 5.33.16, services() in lib/processes.js inserts a caller-supplied service name into a PowerShell Get-CimInstance filter after processing it with sanitizeShellString() in lib/util.js. On Windows, the sanitizer removes ASCII quotes but permits Unicode quotation marks that PowerShell accepts as string delimiters, allowing crafted input to terminate the filter and place a PowerShell expression in the command executed by util.powerShell(). The expression runs with the Node.js process account's permissions and may read or change accessible files, alter application data, or disrupt the service. The package does not expose a network service itself, so remote reachability depends on a consuming application forwarding attacker-controlled input to services() or getDynamicData(). This issue is fixed in version 5.33.16.

Source published

26 Oct 2026 21:18:13 UTC

Source modified

26 Oct 2026 21:18:14 UTC

Observed here

28 Oct 2026 23:57:28 UTC

Source terms

NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained

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: nvd · NIST NVD usage terms; underlying source attribution retained. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS 3.1 · [email protected] · Secondary · 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

### Summary On Windows, `[email protected]` builds a PowerShell command using the value passed to `services()`. The default sanitizer removes ASCII quotes but keeps Unicode curly quotes, spaces, and parentheses. A crafted service name can use those characters to break out of the generated filter string and run a PowerShell expression. The expression runs with the permissions of the Node.js process. This report confirms version `5.33.15`. Other package versions have not been checked. ### Details In `lib/processes.js`, `services()` sanitizes the caller's string with `sanitizeShellString()` and later inserts each resulting name into a `Get-CimInstance Win32_Service -Filter` command. The Windows branch passes that command to `util.powerShell()`. The sanitizer in `lib/util.js` removes the ASCII double quote, but it does not remove U+201C or U+201D, the left and right curly double quotation marks. It also permits spaces and parentheses when called in its default, non-strict mode. PowerShell accepts the curly marks as string delimiters, so an input can end the filter string and place a command expression in the generated command. For example, the input below uses curly quotation marks to end the generated filter string and execute `New-Item`. I reproduced this call on Windows against the checked-out `[email protected]` source; it created a marker file with the Node.js process account. ### Proof of concept Run this on Windows in a disposable directory with Node.js and PowerShell available: ```powershell mkdir si-command-injection-repro cd si-command-injection-repro npm init -y npm install [email protected] ``` Save the following as `poc.cjs`, then run `node poc.cjs`: ```js 'use strict'; const fs = require('node:fs'); const path = require('node:path'); const si = require('systeminformation'); (async () => { const markerName = `si-injection-${process.pid}.txt`; const markerPath = path.join(process.cwd(), markerName); fs.rmSync(markerPath, { force: true }); try { await si.services(`not-a-service” (New-Item -Name ${markerName} -ItemType File -Force) “`); console.log(`markerCreated=${fs.existsSync(markerPath)}`); } finally { fs.rmSync(markerPath, { force: true }); } })().catch((error) => { console.error(error); process.exitCode = 1; }); ``` Expected output: ```text markerCreated=true ``` The Windows run returned an array and created the marker (`markerCreated: true`). A benign input left the marker absent. The script removes the marker afterward. I did not identify an application network route that forwards remote input to `services()`, so remote exploitability depends on the consuming application. ### Impact An application that passes attacker-controlled input to `services()` on Windows can execute PowerShell commands with the Node.js process account's permissions. Depending on that account, commands may read or change accessible files, alter application data, or disrupt the service. I searched this repository for HTTP servers, route handlers, and listener calls and found none. `services()` is exposed through the package API and `getDynamicData()`, so a consuming application could make the input network-reachable if it forwards request data. A separate loopback HTTP harness did trigger the command through a query parameter, but that server was test code and is not part of this repository. The project's `docs/security.html` already warns that arbitrary untrusted input to `services()` needs caution because package sanitization does not cover every case.

Source published

28 Oct 2026 22:42:49 UTC

Source modified

28 Oct 2026 23:00:04 UTC

Observed here

28 Oct 2026 23:55:37 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

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This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Publisher rating · HIGH