CVE-2026-41526
Description
A flaw was found in KDE KCoreAddons. The KShell::quoteArgs function, intended to safely quote arguments for shell commands, does not properly handle special characters. This vulnerability allows an attacker to inject control characters, such as \x01, leading to an escape from the shell. Consequently, applications that use this function to process untrusted user input in a security-critical context could be exploited, potentially resulting in arbitrary code execution.
Statement
Red Hat Product Security has determined that this vulnerability does not affect any currently supported Red Hat product. This assessment may evolve based on further analysis and discovery. For more information about this vulnerability and the products it affects, please see the linked references.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality,Integrity,Availability,Non-Repudiation
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; Read Files or Directories; Modify Files or Directories; Read Application Data; Modify Application Data; Hide Activities
Attackers could execute unauthorized operating system commands, which could then be used to disable the product, or read and modify data for which the attacker does not have permissions to access directly. Since the targeted application is directly executing the commands instead of the attacker, any malicious activities may appear to come from the application or the application's owner.
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