Description

Renovate versions from 39.53.0 before 40.33.0 contain a command injection vulnerability in the gleam manager where the depName parameter is appended to gleam deps update commands without proper sanitization. Attackers with repository write access can craft malicious gleam.toml files to execute arbitrary commands on the machine running Renovate.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "6.7",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-19T14:17:50.957Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-19T14:17:50.957Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A command injection vulnerability exists within the gleam manager of Renovate versions ranging from 39.53.0 up to, but not including, 40.33.0. This security flaw enables threat actors with repository write access to achieve arbitrary command execution on the host machine running the Renovate scanning process. The vulnerability stems from improper input sanitization of the depName parameter, which is directly appended to the underlying gleam deps update execution command. Successful exploitation allows malicious actors to compromise the integrity and confidentiality of the execution environment, potentially pivoting to broader infrastructure access depending on the isolation and privilege level of the Renovate runner. Mitigating this risk requires updating Renovate to version 40.33.0 or later, alongside restricting repository write access and enforcing strict input validation controls for dependency configurations.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of this vulnerability is improper neutralization of special characters within user-controlled dependency configuration data before passing it to the underlying operating system shell. Specifically, the vulnerable component is the gleam manager within Renovate, which processes dependency definitions from configuration files such as gleam.toml.\nThe exploitation method relies on supplying a crafted depName parameter within a malicious gleam.toml file. Because the application appends the unsanitized depName value directly into the arguments of the gleam deps update command without proper escaping or parameterization, shell metacharacters can be injected.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, an attacker who possesses repository write access modifies or introduces a malicious gleam.toml file containing payload strings within the depName field. Second, when the Renovate bot executes its dependency discovery and update cycle, it parses the manipulated configuration file. Third, Renovate constructs the gleam deps update command string, embedding the malicious payload from the depName parameter. Fourth, the operating system executes the resulting command string via a shell, causing the injected shell commands to execute with the execution privileges of the Renovate process.\nAffected versions include Renovate from 39.53.0 before 40.33.0. Authentication and privilege requirements dictate that the attacker must have write access to the target repository to commit the malicious gleam.toml file. The payload behavior results in arbitrary command execution on the host running the scanning engine, leading to potential post-exploitation impacts such as environment variable harvesting, credential theft, and unauthorized access to cloud provider metadata or internal network segments."
}