CVE-2026-48813 Flawfinder output manipulation via untrusted filenames and source text
Attackers can manipulate Flawfinder output via malicious filenames or code, corrupting reports and injecting escape sequences or XML.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-48813?
CVE-2026-48813 is a high-severity vulnerability in david-a-wheeler flawfinder, published on 11 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Flawfinder is a a static analysis tool for finding vulnerabilities in C/C++ source code. Versions prior to 2.0.20 have an improper input neutralization issue leading to output manipulation, specifically, Terminal/ANSI Escape Sequence Injection and XML Injection. A malicious file whose name contains ANSI escape sequences can end up being included in flawfinder's standard terminal output, with many effects. Untrusted fields (such as filenames, categories, or code context text) were not properly sanitized when generating structured reports. An attacker could exploit this to corrupt CSV formats or inject arbitrary XML attributes into SonarQube outputs via output_sonar(). It impacts those who use flawfinder to evaluate intentionally malicious filenames or file contents. This issue has been fully patched in Version 2.0.20 (released 2026-05-16). There is no configuration-based workaround within older versions of flawfinder. If an immediate upgrade is not possible, users can mitigate the risk by pre-scanning filenames, inspecting raw output, and/or restricting untrusted inputs.
Weakness: CWE-74
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-48813?
3 open source packages ship an affected version, including flawfinder.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
flawfinder PyPI | All versions | 2.0.20 |
flawfinder PyPI | All versions | 2.0.20 |
flawfinder PyPI | All versions | 2.0.20 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-48813?
Upgrade flawfinder to 2.0.20 or later.
Is CVE-2026-48813 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-48813 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-4c3c-r6p8-c863, PYSEC-2026-2480, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-48813.