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High

Composer has a command injection via malicious perforce repository

  • Disclosed: 14.04.2026
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 10:22

Impact

The Perforce::generateP4Command() method constructed shell commands by interpolating user-supplied Perforce connection parameters (port, user, client) without proper escaping. An attacker controlling a repository configuration in a malicious composer.json declaring a Perforce VCS repository could inject arbitrary commands through these values, leading to command execution in the context of the user running Composer. Composer would execute these injected commands even if Perforce is not installed.

VCS repositories are only loaded from the root composer.json file located in the directory you execute Composer commands in and from the composer config directory (e.g. ~/.config/composer/composer.json). So this vulnerability cannot be exploited through composer.json files of packages installed as dependencies.

You are at risk of command execution if you run Composer commands on untrusted projects with attacker supplied composer.json files, regardless of whether you or any of your dependencies use Perforce.

Patches

Fixed in Composer 2.2.27 (2.2 LTS) and 2.9.6 (mainline)

Workarounds

  • Carefully inspect composer.json files before running Composer on them. Verify that Perforce-related fields contain valid values.
  • Only run Composer commands on projects from trusted sources.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Composer package composer/composer >= 2.3.0, < 2.9.6, >= 1.0.0, < 2.2.27 2.9.6, 2.2.27

References

CVSS score 7.8/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-20, CWE-78
Platform
Composer
Package
composer/composer
Disclosed
14.04.2026
Updated
11.10.2026 10:22

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-wg36-wvj6-r67p - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: composer/composer

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

All (17) in the archive
Total entries
17
First → latest
04.2021 10.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • High 13
  • Medium 3
  • Low 1

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. Composer arbitrary command execution via a malicious package's Perforce source URL
    High CVE-2026-84361 >= 2.3.0, < 2.10.3, >= 1.0, < 2.2.30 2.10.3, 2.2.30
  2. Composer: Arbitrary file write outside vendor via malicious transitive package name
    High · 7.0 CVE-2026-59948 >= 2.3.0, < 2.10.2, >= 1.0.0, < 2.2.29 2.10.2, 2.2.29
  3. Github Actions issued GITHUB_TOKEN disclosure in GitHub Actions logs
    High · 7.5 CVE-2026-45793 >= 2.3.0, < 2.9.8, >= 2.0.0, < 2.2.28, >= 1.0, < 1.10.28 2.9.8, 2.2.28, 1.10.28
  4. Composer has a command injection via malicious perforce repository this entry
    High · 7.8 CVE-2026-40176 >= 2.3.0, < 2.9.6, >= 1.0.0, < 2.2.27 2.9.6, 2.2.27
  5. Composer has a command injection via malicious perforce reference
    High · 8.8 CVE-2026-40261 >= 2.3.0, < 2.9.6, >= 1.0.0, < 2.2.27 2.9.6, 2.2.27
  6. Composer has a command injection via malicious git branch name
    High · 8.8 CVE-2024-35241 >= 2.0, < 2.2.24, >= 2.3, < 2.7.7 2.2.24, 2.7.7
  7. Composer has multiple command injections via malicious git/hg branch names
    High · 8.8 CVE-2024-35242 >= 2.0, < 2.2.24, >= 2.3, < 2.7.7 2.2.24, 2.7.7
  8. Composer code execution and possible privilege escalation via compromised InstalledVersions.php or installed.php
    High · 8.8 CVE-2024-24821 >= 2.0.0-alpha1, < 2.2.23, >= 2.3.0-rc1, < 2.7.0 2.2.23, 2.7.0
  9. Composer Remote Code Execution vulnerability via web-accessible composer.phar
    High · 8.8 CVE-2023-43655 < 1.10.27, >= 2.0.0, < 2.2.22, >= 2.3.0, < 2.6.4 1.10.27, 2.2.22, 2.6.4
  10. Composer allows cache poisoning from other projects built on the same host
    High · 8.8 CVE-2015-8371 < 1.0.0 1.0.0
  11. Missing input validation can lead to command execution in composer
    High · 8.3 CVE-2022-24828 < 1.10.26, >= 2.0, < 2.2.12, >= 2.3, < 2.3.5 1.10.26, 2.2.12, 2.3.5
  12. Improper escaping of command arguments on Windows leading to command injection
    High · 8.2 CVE-2021-41116 < 1.10.23, >= 2.0.0-alpha1, < 2.1.9 1.10.23, 2.1.9
  13. Composer's missing argument delimiter can lead to code execution via VCS repository URLs or source download URLs on systems with Mercurial
    High · 8.8 CVE-2021-29472 < 1.10.22, >= 2.0.0-alpha1, < 2.0.13 1.10.22, 2.0.13

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