Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-3102

Command Injection in Exiftool Project Exiftool ≤ 13.50

Public PoCCommand Injection
Published
24 February 2026
Modified
26 February 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v4 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.037 89th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-3102 is a medium-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Exiftool Project Exiftool. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 11% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

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-2026-3102 is an OS command injection vulnerability affecting ExifTool versions up to 13.49 on macOS. The issue resides in the SetMacOSTags function within the lib/Image/ExifTool/MacOS.pm module of the PNG File Parser component. It is triggered by manipulation of the DateTimeOriginal argument, leading to command injection (CWE-77, CWE-78). The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).

The attack can be carried out remotely by an unauthenticated attacker with network access who tricks a user into processing a specially crafted PNG file using the vulnerable ExifTool version. User interaction is required, such as opening or parsing the malicious file. Successful exploitation allows limited impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, enabling arbitrary OS command execution on the target's macOS system.

Mitigation is addressed by upgrading to ExifTool version 13.50, which includes the fixing commit e9609a9bcc0d32bd252a709a562fb822d6dd86f7. Upgrading the affected component is recommended, as detailed in the official GitHub repository, release notes, and commit history.

The exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be utilized, with further details available via VulDB entries.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability was determined in exiftool up to 13.49 on macOS. This issue affects the function SetMacOSTags of the file lib/Image/ExifTool/MacOS.pm of the component PNG File Parser. This manipulation of the argument DateTimeOriginal causes os command injection. The attack is…

more

possible to be carried out remotely. The exploit has been publicly disclosed and may be utilized. Upgrading to version 13.50 is capable of addressing this issue. Patch name: e9609a9bcc0d32bd252a709a562fb822d6dd86f7. Upgrading the affected component is recommended.

CWE(s)
CWE-77CWE-78

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.
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 →
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 →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-23247Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-27818Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-24150Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2023-40396Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-20671Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-35558Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-11681Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-20675Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-12814Shared CWE-77, CWE-78
CVE-2026-2188Shared CWE-77, CWE-78

Affected Assets

exiftool project
exiftool
≤ 13.50

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)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

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

CM-7 Least Functionality partial match

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

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.

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

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

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.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References