CVE-2026-44461 Zed: Remote Command Injection via Unquoted Environment Variable Keys (SSH / WSL Remote)

High 8.6 Published 28 May 2026 Updated 29 May 2026

Attackers can execute arbitrary commands on remote hosts via unquoted environment variable keys in Zed's SSH/WSL remote features.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2026-44461?

CVE-2026-44461 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in zed-industries zed, published on 28 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

Zed is a code editor. Prior to 0.227.1, Zed builds SSH/WSL remote commands as a shell command string that starts with exec env ..., but environment variable keys are inserted without shell quoting or validation. If an attacker can control an environment variable key (for example via project terminal settings), shell expansions in the key (such as $(...)) are evaluated by the remote shell when a terminal is opened. This can lead to arbitrary command execution on the remote host under the victim user's account. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.227.1.

Weakness: CWE-78

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44461?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Zed Zed.

How do I fix CVE-2026-44461?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-44461 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.

Is CVE-2026-44461 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44461 exists.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-63qj-jc2q-7hg5, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-44461.