CVE-2026-26832

CriticalRCE

Published: 25 March 2026

Published

25 March 2026

Modified

26 March 2026

KEV Added

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Patch

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CVSS Score 9.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS Score 0.0027 50.0th percentile

Risk Priority 20 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2026-26832 is a critical-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Npmjs (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 50.0% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 CM-10 (Software Usage Restrictions) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190) and 2 other techniques. What defenders deploy: see the NIST 800-53 controls recommended below.

Threat & Defense Details

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

prevent

Implements input validation at system entry points to sanitize file path parameters before concatenation into shell commands, directly preventing OS command injection in the recognize() function.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match

prevent

Requires identification and timely remediation of flaws like the command injection vulnerability in node-tesseract-ocr versions through 2.2.1 via patching or replacement.

CM-10 Software Usage Restrictions good match

prevent

Restricts usage of unapproved or vulnerable software such as the affected node-tesseract-ocr npm package, preventing its deployment in Node.js applications.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access

Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.

attack.mitre.org →

T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution

Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.

attack.mitre.org →

T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution

Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.

attack.mitre.org →

Why these techniques?

Remote unauthenticated OS command injection via unsanitized file path in child_process.exec() enables exploitation of public-facing Node.js applications (T1190) and arbitrary shell command execution on Windows (T1059.003) or Unix (T1059.004).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

NVD Description

node-tesseract-ocr is an npm package that provides a Node.js wrapper for Tesseract OCR. In all versions through 2.2.1, the recognize() function in src/index.js is vulnerable to OS Command Injection. The file path parameter is concatenated into a shell command string…

and passed to child_process.exec() without proper sanitization

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2026-26832 is an OS Command Injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the node-tesseract-ocr npm package, a Node.js wrapper for Tesseract OCR. All versions through 2.2.1 are affected, specifically the recognize() function in src/index.js. The file path parameter supplied to this function is concatenated directly into a shell command string and passed to child_process.exec() without sanitization, enabling command injection. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and was published on 2026-03-25.

The vulnerability is exploitable by any remote attacker with network access who can supply a malicious file path to the recognize() function, requiring no authentication, privileges, or user interaction. By crafting a specially formatted path containing shell metacharacters, an attacker can inject and execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host running the vulnerable Node.js application. This can result in high-impact compromise, including unauthorized data access, modification, or destruction, as well as full system takeover.

Mitigation guidance and patches are not explicitly detailed in the CVE description, but security practitioners should consult the referenced advisories and resources: the project repository at https://github.com/zapolnoch/node-tesseract-ocr, vulnerable source code at https://github.com/zapolnoch/node-tesseract-ocr/blob/master/src/index.js, CVE-specific details at https://github.com/zebbernCVE/CVE-2026-26832, and the npm package page at https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-tesseract-ocr for any updates, version fixes, or recommended workarounds such as input validation or upgrading beyond version 2.2.1 if available.