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Medium

Electron: shell.openPath path validation bypass via embedded null byte

  • Disclosed: 05.08.2026
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 10:22

Impact

shell.openPath() did not reject paths containing embedded null bytes. Apps that perform string-only validation of file paths (for example, checking the file extension) before passing them to shell.openPath() could be bypassed, allowing an attacker-controlled path to open a different file than the one that passed validation.

Apps are only affected if they pass paths derived from untrusted input to shell.openPath() and rely on string-based validation without a filesystem check. Node's fs APIs already reject paths containing null bytes, so apps that call fs.existsSync(), fs.stat(), or similar before shell.openPath() are not affected. Apps that do not call shell.openPath() with untrusted input are not affected.

Workarounds

Reject any path containing a null byte before passing it to shell.openPath():

js
if (filePath.includes('\0')) throw new Error('invalid path');

Fixed Versions

  • 42.0.0-beta.1
  • 41.1.1
  • 40.9.0
  • 39.8.6

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at security@electronjs.org

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
npm package electron >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.0.0-beta.1, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.1.1, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.9.0, < 39.8.6 42.0.0-beta.1, 41.1.1, 40.9.0, 39.8.6

References

CVSS score 6/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-158, CWE-20
Platform
npm
Package
electron
Disclosed
05.08.2026
Updated
11.10.2026 10:22

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-5c9j-mhmv-5xgx - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: electron

All published vulnerabilities of this package (npm package), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (71) in the archive
Total entries
71
First → latest
10.2017 09.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
3

Severity breakdown

  • Critical 3
  • High 26
  • Medium 32
  • Low 10

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. Electron drops inherited HTML sandbox restrictions for popups opened through OpenURLFromTab
    High · 8.2 CVE-2026-102673 < 41.10.4, >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.5.2, >= 43.0.0-alpha.1, < 43.0.0 41.10.4, 42.5.2, 43.0.0
  2. Electron: Windows opened from a sandboxed top-level document do not inherit its sandbox restrictions
    High · 8.2 CVE-2026-102674 < 41.10.6, >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.9.2, >= 43.0.0-alpha.1, < 43.4.1, >= 44.0.0-alpha.1, < 44.0.0-beta.5 41.10.6, 42.9.2, 43.4.1, 44.0.0-beta.5
  3. Electron: File and HTTP protocol handlers allow cross-origin reads without corsEnabled
    High · 7.4 CVE-2026-102675 < 41.10.6, >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.9.2, >= 43.0.0-alpha.1, < 43.4.1, >= 44.0.0-alpha.1, < 44.0.0-beta.5 41.10.6, 42.9.2, 43.4.1, 44.0.0-beta.5
  4. Electron: <webview> can enable Node.js integration in Web Workers despite embedder restrictions
    High · 8.3 CVE-2026-102676 < 41.10.6, >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.9.2, >= 43.0.0-alpha.1, < 43.4.1, >= 44.0.0-alpha.1, < 44.0.0-beta.5 41.10.6, 42.9.2, 43.4.1, 44.0.0-beta.5
  5. Electron: Sandboxed preload code cache can be poisoned by a compromised renderer
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-102677 >= 42.3.3, < 42.10.0, >= 43.0.0-beta.1, < 43.5.0, >= 44.0.0-alpha.1, < 44.0.0-beta.6 42.10.0, 43.5.0, 44.0.0-beta.6
  6. Electron: Sandboxed iframe can bypass the allow-popups restriction via the OpenURL navigation path
    High · 7.2 CVE-2026-70608 >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.0.1, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.10.3, < 39.8.10 42.0.1, 41.10.3, 39.8.10
  7. Electron: Custom protocol with supportFetchAPI but not corsEnabled allows cross-origin reads
    High · 7.4 CVE-2026-70604 >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.0.0, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.4.0, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.9.3, < 39.8.10 42.0.0, 41.4.0, 40.9.3, 39.8.10
  8. Electron: shell.openPath path validation bypass via embedded null byte this entry
    Medium · 6.0 CVE-2026-70603 >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.0.0-beta.1, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.1.1, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.9.0, < 39.8.6 42.0.0-beta.1, 41.1.1, 40.9.0, 39.8.6
  9. Electron: Context isolation bypass via Function.prototype.bind hijack
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-70601 < 39.8.9, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.9.2, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.2.2, >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.0.0-beta.5 39.8.9, 40.9.2, 41.2.2, 42.0.0-beta.5
  10. Electron: Buffer performs incorrect byte length calculations resulting in heap buffer under/overflow
    Critical CVE-2026-54257 >= 42.3.1, < 42.3.3 42.3.3
  11. Electron: Context Isolation bypass via contextBridge VideoFrame transfer
    High · 8.3 CVE-2026-34780 >= 39.0.0-alpha.1, < 39.8.0, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.7.0, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.0.0-beta.8 39.8.0, 40.7.0, 41.0.0-beta.8
  12. Electron: Use-after-free in offscreen child window paint callback
    High · 8.1 CVE-2026-34774 < 39.8.1, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.7.0, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.0.0 39.8.1, 40.7.0, 41.0.0
  13. Electron: Use-after-free in WebContents fullscreen, pointer-lock, and keyboard-lock permission callbacks
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-34771 < 38.8.6, >= 39.0.0-alpha.1, < 39.8.0, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.7.0, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.0.0-beta.8 38.8.6, 39.8.0, 40.7.0, 41.0.0-beta.8
  14. Electron: Use-after-free in PowerMonitor on Windows and macOS
    High · 7.0 CVE-2026-34770 < 38.8.6, >= 39.0.0-alpha.1, < 39.8.1, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.8.0, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.0.0-beta.8 38.8.6, 39.8.1, 40.8.0, 41.0.0-beta.8
  15. Electron: Renderer command-line switch injection via undocumented commandLineSwitches webPreference
    High · 7.7 CVE-2026-34769 < 38.8.6, >= 39.0.0-alpha.1, < 39.8.0, >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.7.0, >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.0.0-beta.8 38.8.6, 39.8.0, 40.7.0, 41.0.0-beta.8
  16. electron ASAR Integrity bypass by just modifying the content
    High · 7.8 CVE-2024-46992 >= 30.0.0-alpha.1, < 30.0.5, >= 31.0.0-alpha.1, < 31.0.0-beta.1 30.0.5, 31.0.0-beta.1
  17. Electron affected by libvpx's heap buffer overflow in vp8 encoding
    High · 8.8 Exploited in attacks CVE-2023-5217 < 22.3.25, >= 24.0.0, < 24.8.5, >= 25.0.0, < 25.8.4, >= 26.0.0, < 26.2.4, >= 27.0.0-alpha.1, < 27.0.0-beta.8 22.3.25, 24.8.5, 25.8.4, 26.2.4, 27.0.0-beta.8
  18. libwebp: OOB write in BuildHuffmanTable
    High · 8.8 Exploited in attacks CVE-2023-4863 >= 22.0.0, < 22.3.24, >= 24.0.0, < 24.8.3, >= 25.0.0, < 25.8.1, >= 26.0.0, < 26.2.1, >= 27.0.0-beta.1, < 27.0.0-beta.2 22.3.24, 24.8.3, 25.8.1, 26.2.1, 27.0.0-beta.2
  19. Electron's Content-Secrity-Policy disabling eval not applied consistently in renderers with sandbox disabled
    High · 7.5 CVE-2023-23623 >= 22.0.0-beta.1, < 22.0.1, >= 23.0.0-alpha.1, < 23.0.0-alpha.2 22.0.1, 23.0.0-alpha.2
  20. Heap buffer overflow in GPU
    Critical · 9.6 Exploited in attacks CVE-2022-4135 >= 19.0.0, < 19.1.8 19.1.8
Show more (10) Showing 20 of 30

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