# CVE-2022-31179: Insufficient escaping of line feeds for CMD in shescape

> Attackers can inject commands into cmd.exe on Windows by exploiting insufficient line feed escaping in the shescape library.

- **Severity:** High 8.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 Aug 2022
- **Updated:** 22 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jjc5-fp7p-6f8w

## What is CVE-2022-31179?

CVE-2022-31179 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in ericcornelissen shescape, published on 1 Aug 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Shescape is a simple shell escape package for JavaScript. Versions prior to 1.5.8 were found to be subject to code injection on windows. This impacts users that use Shescape (any API function) to escape arguments for cmd.exe on Windows An attacker can omit all arguments following their input by including a line feed character (`'\n'`) in the payload. This bug has been patched in [v1.5.8] which you can upgrade to now. No further changes are required. Alternatively, line feed characters (`'\n'`) can be stripped out manually or the user input can be made the last argument (this only limits the impact).

Weakness: CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-31179?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including shescape. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `shescape` | npm | All versions | 1.5.8 |
| `shescape` | npm | All versions | 1.5.8 |

Products: Shescape Project Shescape.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-31179?

Upgrade shescape to 1.5.8 or later.

## Is CVE-2022-31179 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-31179 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in ericcornelissen shescape

- [CVE-2022-31180](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31180/): Insufficient escaping of whitespace in shescape (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-32094](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32094/): Shescape escape() leaves bracket glob expansion active on Bash, BusyBox, and Dash (medium 6.9)
- [CVE-2023-40185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-40185/): Shescape on Windows escaping may be bypassed in threaded context (medium 6.5)
- [CVE-2021-21384](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21384/): Null characters not escaped in shescape (medium 6.3)
- [CVE-2022-24725](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-24725/): Exposure of home directory through shescape on Unix with Bash (medium 6.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-31179 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-31179 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in ericcornelissen shescape, published on 1 Aug 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-31179 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- shescape (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.5.8
- shescape (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.5.8

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31179/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31179/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-31179
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-31179
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-31179

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-31179/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.