Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-27938

RCE

Published
26 February 2026
Modified
15 April 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 7.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0079 53th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-27938 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 7.7 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 47% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-27938 is an OS command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the GitHub Actions workflow file `release.yml` within the `wp-graphql/wp-graphql` repository. WPGraphQL is a plugin that provides a GraphQL API for WordPress sites. The issue affects versions prior to 2.9.1, where the workflow directly incorporates `${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}` into a `run:` shell block without sanitization.

The vulnerability can be exploited by an attacker with low privileges (PR:L) who submits a pull request from the `develop` branch to `master` containing malicious payload in the PR body. Exploitation requires a reviewer to merge the pull request (UI:R), at which point the PR body is injected verbatim into a shell command executed on the GitHub Actions runner. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary command execution on the runner, achieving high confidentiality and integrity impacts with a changed scope (CVSS 7.7).

Version 2.9.1 of WPGraphQL resolves the vulnerability. Additional details are available in the GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/wp-graphql/wp-graphql/security/advisories/GHSA-4q9f-mjxf-rx7x and the fixing commit at https://github.com/wp-graphql/wp-graphql/commit/de0c2d590593f1099546ad517106e454a498bc58.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

WPGraphQL provides a GraphQL API for WordPress sites. Prior to version 2.9.1, the `wp-graphql/wp-graphql` repository contains a GitHub Actions workflow (`release.yml`) vulnerable to OS command injection through direct use of `${{ github.event.pull_request.body }}` inside a `run:` shell block. When a…

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pull request from `develop` to `master` is merged, the PR body is injected verbatim into a shell command, allowing arbitrary command execution on the Actions runner. Version 2.9.1 contains a fix for the vulnerability.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
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.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-8628Shared CWE-78
CVE-2024-22836Shared CWE-78
CVE-2023-25826Shared CWE-78
CVE-2026-65590Shared CWE-78
CVE-2026-72880Shared CWE-78
CVE-2024-28125Shared CWE-78
CVE-2026-9207Shared CWE-78
CVE-2026-33145Shared CWE-78
CVE-2026-72580Shared CWE-78
CVE-2023-50382Shared CWE-78

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect command sanitization during development.

Input validation directly neutralizes or rejects special characters that would otherwise alter OS command structure.

Least privilege reduces the permissions available to any process that could be subverted by injected commands.

Least functionality restricts available OS commands and interpreters, limiting the blast radius of injection.

Secure engineering principles require proper neutralization of untrusted input before command construction.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

References