Description

In JetBrains Toolbox App before 3.6.1 command injection was possible via enterprise configuration URLs

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.5",
  "pubDate": "2026-11-06T17:17:24.727Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-11-06T17:17:24.727Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A command injection vulnerability has been identified in the JetBrains Toolbox App prior to version 3.6.1, specifically involving the processing of enterprise configuration URLs.\nThis vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying host operating system.\nThe flaw stems from improper sanitization of inputs provided via specifically crafted configuration URLs, which the application fails to validate before passing them to system-level interfaces or shell executors.\nThe impact of this vulnerability is critical, as it facilitates remote code execution (RCE), potentially leading to complete system compromise, unauthorized access to sensitive user data, and lateral movement within the host environment.\nThe risk is primarily associated with the application's handling of external configuration sources, which may be manipulated by an attacker to trigger malicious payloads.\nSuccessful exploitation requires the victim to interact with or be directed to a malicious configuration URL, making it a significant concern for environments utilizing enterprise-wide deployment configurations.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in the input handling logic of the JetBrains Toolbox App's enterprise configuration mechanism. The application is designed to ingest configuration parameters via URLs to facilitate automated setup and administrative control. However, the parser responsible for processing these URLs fails to perform adequate validation or sanitization on the provided parameters before passing them to internal execution routines.\nThe root cause is identified as an improper neutralization of special elements used in OS commands (CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command). When an enterprise configuration URL is supplied, the application processes the URI components in a context where they are subsequently interpreted by the system shell or an insecure API call. An attacker can inject command separators or meta-characters (such as '&', '|', or ';') into the URL, allowing the injection of arbitrary shell commands.\nThe attack flow typically follows this trajectory: 1) The attacker constructs a malicious enterprise configuration URL containing an injected payload. 2) The attacker social-engineers a user or administrator into triggering the Toolbox App to fetch or process this URL. 3) The application’s internal configuration handler retrieves the URL, failing to escape the malicious syntax. 4) The injected command is executed within the security context of the user running the JetBrains Toolbox App.\nBecause the Toolbox App typically runs with the privileges of the logged-in user, the execution of the injected command occurs with those same permissions. This bypasses typical user-land security controls and allows for the execution of arbitrary binaries, exfiltration of local configuration files, or the establishment of persistent backdoors. The vulnerability does not require prior authentication to the application, as the entry point is the external configuration processing logic itself.\nThe vulnerable component is the configuration URL parser within the JetBrains Toolbox App versions prior to 3.6.1. By exploiting this, an attacker can transition from a remote URL-based trigger to full command execution on the host OS. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in enterprise settings where administrative URLs might be shared or distributed via internal messaging or documentation, increasing the likelihood of user interaction with a malicious link."
}