{"id":"UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53534","details":"JabRef 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.","modified":"2026-09-21T21:39:46.787511831Z","published":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","upstream":["CVE-2026-53534"],"references":[{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-53534"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53534"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/security/advisories/GHSA-m42c-cw93-p629"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/commit/b8663fe58e6c87c3927cdb4eeb1f6934d7c3f1d2"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/pull/15628"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/releases/tag/v6.0-alpha.6"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"jabref","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:16.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/jabref?arch=source&distro=xenial"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["2.10+ds-4","2.10+ds-5"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"jabref","binary_version":"2.10+ds-5"},{"binary_version":"2.10+ds-5","binary_name":"jabref-plugin-oo"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53534.json"}},{"package":{"name":"jabref","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:18.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/jabref?arch=source&distro=bionic"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["3.8.2+ds-2","3.8.2+ds-3","3.8.2+ds-12~18.04"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_version":"3.8.2+ds-12~18.04","binary_name":"jabref"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53534.json"}},{"package":{"name":"jabref","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:20.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/jabref?arch=source&distro=focal"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["3.8.2+ds-12"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"jabref","binary_version":"3.8.2+ds-12"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53534.json"}},{"package":{"name":"jabref","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:22.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/jabref?arch=source&distro=jammy"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["3.8.2+ds-15","3.8.2+ds-16"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"jabref","binary_version":"3.8.2+ds-16"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53534.json"}},{"package":{"name":"jabref","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:24.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/jabref?arch=source&distro=noble"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["3.8.2+ds-17"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_version":"3.8.2+ds-17","binary_name":"jabref"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53534.json"}},{"package":{"name":"jabref","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:26.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/jabref?arch=source&distro=resolute"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["3.8.2+ds-17","3.8.2+ds-18"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"jabref","binary_version":"3.8.2+ds-18"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53534.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V4","score":"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"},{"type":"Ubuntu","score":"medium"}]}