Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-40499

Command Injection in Radare2 ≤ 6.1.4

Published
15 April 2026
Modified
01 May 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/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 0.012 66th 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-2026-40499 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Radare Radare2. Its CVSS base score is 8.4 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 34% 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-2026-40499 is a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in radare2 versions prior to 6.1.4, affecting the PDB parser's print_gvars() function. The flaw arises when a newline byte is embedded in the PE section header name field of a malicious PDB file, enabling injection of arbitrary r2 commands. These commands execute when the idp command processes the file, with 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).

A local attacker with no privileges can exploit this vulnerability by convincing a user to load a specially crafted PDB file using radare2's idp command. User interaction is required, such as opening the file in radare2 for analysis. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary command execution within the radare2 environment, potentially leading to high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts on the local system.

Mitigation involves updating to radare2 version 6.1.4 or later, where the issue is fixed via commit 5590c87deeb7eb2a106fd7aab9ca88bfeebb7397. Security practitioners should avoid processing untrusted PDB files with the idp command and review the GitHub issue #25752 and VulnCheck advisory for additional details.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

radare2 prior to version 6.1.4 contains a command injection vulnerability in the PDB parser's print_gvars() function that allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands by embedding a newline byte in the PE section header name field. Attackers can craft a malicious…

more

PDB file with specially crafted section names to inject r2 commands that are executed when the idp command processes the file.

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.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
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.
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-2024-11858Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-40527Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-40517Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2023-0302Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-6940Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-6941Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-14758Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-14757Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-14787Same product: Radare Radare2
CVE-2026-14761Same product: Radare Radare2

Affected Assets

radare
radare2
≤ 6.1.4

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