Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-33874

Command Injection in Gematik Authenticator 4.12.0 – 4.16.0

Published
27 March 2026
Modified
21 April 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0028 21th percentile
Risk Priority 56 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-33874 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Gematik Authenticator. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked at the 21th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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-2026-33874 is a remote code execution vulnerability (classified under CWE-78, OS Command Injection) affecting the Mac OS version of the Gematik Authenticator, a tool used to securely authenticate users for login to digital health applications. The flaw impacts versions starting from 4.12.0 up to but not including 4.16.0. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for significant impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by tricking a victim into opening a malicious file on a system running the affected Mac OS Authenticator version. No privileges are required (PR:N), but local access is needed (AV:L) with low attack complexity (AC:L) and user interaction (UI:R). Successful exploitation leads to remote code execution on the victim's machine, potentially allowing full compromise of the local system.

Advisories, including those from the Gematik GitHub security page (GHSA-mjgm-7hwc-qqcr) and Machinespirits (advisory/2e655e/), recommend updating the Gematik Authenticator to version 4.16.0 or later to apply the patch. No workarounds are available.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Gematik Authenticator securely authenticates users for login to digital health applications. Starting in version 4.12.0 and prior to version 4.16.0, the Mac OS version of the Authenticator is vulnerable to remote code execution, triggered when victims open a malicious file.…

more

Update the gematik Authenticator to version 4.16.0 or greater to receive a patch. There are no known workarounds.

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-2024-11681Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-21267Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-30314Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-48345Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-48347Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-14499Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-25157Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-27487Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-3102Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2014-6271Same vendor: Apple

Affected Assets

gematik
authenticator
4.12.0 — 4.16.0

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