CVE-2026-118905: Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.31.…
Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.31.2 through 0.40.5, `nvm_ls` filters installed versions with a sed program that embeds the requested version pattern in a `\#...#` address, escaping `.` (and, since 0.40.4, `#`) but not backslash. A version string containing `#` (or `\#`) therefore closes the address early, and the rest of it is parsed as sed commands: with GNU sed, the `e` command runs a shell command as the user; with BSD sed, the `w` and `r` commands write and read files. This is reachable whenever an attacker-influenced version string is passed to `nvm use`, `nvm which`, `nvm ls`, `nvm version`, `nvm run`, or `nvm exec`, or to `nvm-exec` via `NODE_VERSION`, and at least one version is installed. nvm's own `.nvmrc` parser strips comments, so a bare `nvm use` is not affected; however, the bash `cdnvm` and zsh `load-nvmrc` auto-switch hooks documented in the README read `.nvmrc` as-is and pass it to `nvm ls` and `nvm version`, so a user with one of those hooks installed runs the attacker's command just by changing into a directory under a malicious `.nvmrc`; scripts that run `nvm use "$(cat .nvmrc)"` are affected the same way. Version 0.40.6 passes any version pattern containing `#` or a newline through the `.nvmrc` content parser first, so no `#` reaches the sed program.
- Published by source
- 2026-10-29
- First seen by Reality Radar
- 2026-10-29
- Last verified
- 2026-10-29
What the official notice says
Risk: CVSS 7.1
Is this affecting you?
Add what you own or use and Reality Radar will tell you when official changes match it — with evidence and next steps.
Sources
- NIST National Vulnerability Database Tier A · official published 2026-10-29
Evidence ledger
Every piece of evidence we store is appended to a public hash chain, so later edits are detectable. Anyone can re-verify it.
| Entry | Kind | Observed | Evidence hash | Entry hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2817 | new | 2026-10-29 | 088c4c29bf68…ee7fd0 | 29589abfc2a9…2f41bc |
Chain head: #2934 7db06885a062…766e76