{"id":"GHSA-pfq2-hh62-7m96","summary":"Renovate vulnerable to arbitrary command injection via Gradle Wrapper and malicious `distributionUrl`","details":"### Summary\nRenovate can be tricked into executing shell code while updating the Gradle Wrapper. A malicious `distributionUrl` in `gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties` can lead to command execution in the Renovate runtime.\n\n### Details\nWhen Renovate handles Gradle Wrapper artifacts, it may run a wrapper update command such as:\n- `./gradlew :wrapper --gradle-distribution-url \u003cvalue\u003e`\n\nIn the observed behavior, Renovate executes this via a shell (e.g., `/bin/sh -c ...`).  \nIf `distributionUrl` contains shell command substitution syntax like `$(...)`, the shell evaluates it **before** Gradle validates/parses the URL.\n\nAfter that, Gradle attempts to parse the URL as a URI and fails with `URISyntaxException`, but the shell substitution has already executed.\n\nThis is reproducible even when `allowScripts` is disabled (default is OFF), because this execution happens as part of Gradle Wrapper artifact handling rather than “repository install scripts”.\n\nPrerequisites / attack conditions:\n- The attacker must be able to get a malicious `gradle-wrapper.properties` into a repository that Renovate scans (e.g., direct write access, or a maintainer merges an attacker’s change/PR).\n- Renovate must be configured to process Gradle Wrapper updates/artifacts for that repository (default behavior for the Gradle Wrapper manager).\n\n### PoC\n1. Create a repository with a Gradle Wrapper (`gradlew`, `gradlew.bat`, `gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar`, and `gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties`).\n2. Set `distributionUrl` in `gradle-wrapper.properties` to include `$(...)`.\n3. Run Renovate against the repository.\n4. Observe that a file is created during Renovate’s wrapper update step **before** Gradle fails with `URISyntaxException`.\n\nA [screen recording](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nveSCgyz4pKPCZuelqDD_xGEO00DXr4P/view) is attached showing end-to-end reproduction. In the demo, the payload creates `/tmp/passwd_dump` containing `/etc/passwd`, demonstrating that file read/exfiltration is possible within the Renovate execution context.\n\n### Impact\nThis allows arbitrary command execution in the Renovate runtime during Gradle Wrapper updates. Depending on deployment, this may expose credentials/tokens available to the bot and may allow an attacker to modify repositories or access internal resources reachable from the Renovate environment.\n\n### Remediation\n\nUpgrading to Renovate [42.68.5](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/releases/tag/42.68.5) (2025-12-31) fixes this issue, and closes out other risks of shell evaluation for commands run by Renovate.\n\nIf using the `composer`, `yarn` (v1) or `flux` managers, please upgrade to [42.74.5](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/releases/tag/42.74.5) (2026-01-08), as there were follow-up fixes to keep these managers working.","aliases":["CVE-2026-76228"],"modified":"2026-08-20T04:04:14.407726185Z","published":"2026-01-13T19:54:29Z","database_specific":{"nvd_published_at":null,"cwe_ids":["CWE-78"],"severity":"MODERATE","github_reviewed":true,"github_reviewed_at":"2026-01-13T19:54:29Z"},"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/security/advisories/GHSA-pfq2-hh62-7m96"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate/releases/tag/42.68.5"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"renovate","ecosystem":"npm","purl":"pkg:npm/renovate"},"ranges":[{"type":"SEMVER","events":[{"introduced":"32.124.0"},{"fixed":"42.68.5"}]}],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/01/GHSA-pfq2-hh62-7m96/GHSA-pfq2-hh62-7m96.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"}]}