# CVE-2025-66401: MCP Watch has a Critical Command Injection in cloneRepo allows Remote Code Execution (RCE) via malicious URL

> Attackers can execute arbitrary commands on the host by injecting shell metacharacters into a GitHub URL passed to the cloneRepo method.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Dec 2025
- **Updated:** 2 Dec 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-27m7-ffhq-jqrm

## What is CVE-2025-66401?

CVE-2025-66401 is a critical command injection vulnerability in kapilduraphe mcp-watch, published on 1 Dec 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

MCP Watch is a comprehensive security scanner for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. In 0.1.2 and earlier, the MCPScanner class contains a critical Command Injection vulnerability in the cloneRepo method. The application passes the user-supplied githubUrl argument directly to a system shell via execSync without sanitization. This allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the host machine by appending shell metacharacters to the URL.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-66401?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including mcp-watch. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `mcp-watch` | npm | All versions to 0.1.2 | None |
| `mcp-watch` | npm | All versions to 0.1.2 | None |

Products: Kapilduraphe Mcp Watch.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-66401?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-66401 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-66401 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-66401 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-66401 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-66401 is a critical command injection vulnerability in kapilduraphe mcp-watch, published on 1 Dec 2025. 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-2025-66401 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- mcp-watch (npm): affected all versions up to 0.1.2; no fix listed
- mcp-watch (npm): affected all versions up to 0.1.2; no fix listed

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-2025-66401/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-66401/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-66401
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-66401
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-66401

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-66401/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.