CVE-2026-70603

Electron: shell.openPath path validation bypass via embedded null byte

State: Published
Severity: 6.0 Medium
Published: Aug 5, 2026
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Reserved: Aug 4, 2026

Description

Electron is a framework for writing cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Prior to 39.8.6, 40.9.0, 41.1.1, and 42.0.0-beta.1, shell.openPath() did not reject paths containing embedded null bytes. Apps that perform string-only validation of file paths, for example checking the file extension, before passing them to shell.openPath() could be bypassed, allowing an attacker-controlled path to open a different file than the one that passed validation. Apps are only affected if they pass paths derived from untrusted input to shell.openPath() and rely on string-based validation without a filesystem check. This issue is fixed in versions 39.8.6, 40.9.0, 41.1.1, and 42.0.0-beta.1.

Scores

CVSS	Score	Vector	Source
3.1	6.0 Medium	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N	GitHub_M

Weaknesses

CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
CWE-158 Improper Neutralization of Null Byte or NUL Character

Affected Products

Product	Versions
electronelectron	< 39.8.6Affected >= 40.0.0-alpha.1, < 40.9.0Affected >= 41.0.0-alpha.1, < 41.1.1Affected >= 42.0.0-alpha.1, < 42.0.0-beta.1Affected

References

https://github.com/electron/electron/security/advisories/GHSA-5c9j-mhmv-5xgx

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