CVE-2026-34773

Electron: Registry key path injection in app.setAsDefaultProtocolClient on Windows

State: Published
Severity: 4.7 Medium
Published: Apr 3, 2026
Updated: Apr 6, 2026
Reserved: Mar 30, 2026

Description

Electron is a framework for writing cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Prior to versions 38.8.6, 39.8.1, 40.8.1, and 41.0.0, on Windows, app.setAsDefaultProtocolClient(protocol) did not validate the protocol name before writing to the registry. Apps that pass untrusted input as the protocol name may allow an attacker to write to arbitrary subkeys under HKCU\Software\Classes\, potentially hijacking existing protocol handlers. Apps are only affected if they call app.setAsDefaultProtocolClient() with a protocol name derived from external or untrusted input. Apps that use a hardcoded protocol name are not affected. This issue has been patched in versions 38.8.6, 39.8.1, 40.8.1, and 41.0.0.

Scores

CVSS	Score	Vector	Source
3.1	4.7 Medium	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N	GitHub_M

Weaknesses

CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
CWE-74 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')

Affected Products

Product	Versions
electronelectron	< 38.8.6Affected >= 39.0.0-alpha.1, < 39.8.1Affected >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.8.1Affected >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.0.0Affected

References

https://github.com/electron/electron/security/advisories/GHSA-mwmh-mq4g-g6gr

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