# CVE-2026-54525: Markdown Preview Enhanced: One Click RCE via Markdown Link Command Injection on Windows

> Attackers can execute arbitrary commands on Windows by tricking users into clicking a crafted link in a Markdown preview within the VS Code extension.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373

## What is CVE-2026-54525?

CVE-2026-54525 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in shd101wyy vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced, published on 14 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Markdown Preview Enhanced is a Markdown preview extension for Visual Studio Code. Prior to 0.8.28, Markdown Preview Enhanced preview-link handling passes a decoded, Markdown-controlled link target to a Windows file-opening helper that invokes child_process.exec with the start command. When a Windows user opens an untrusted Markdown file and clicks a crafted external or unsupported-scheme link, shell metacharacters in the decoded target are interpreted by cmd.exe as command separators, allowing an attacker-selected command to run with the privileges of the current VS Code user. The attack requires one normal preview-link click but does not require malicious workspace configuration, script execution to be enabled, or additional files. This issue is fixed in version 0.8.28.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-54525?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-54525?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-54525 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-54525 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54525 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-54525 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-54525 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in shd101wyy vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced, published on 14 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54525 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: shd101wyy vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2026-54525/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54525/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54525
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54525
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-54525

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54525/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.