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Arcane Has a Command Injection in Arcane Updater Lifecycle Labels That Enables RCE

Critical severity GitHub Reviewed Published Jan 15, 2026 in getarcaneapp/arcane • Updated Jan 15, 2026

Package

gomod github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/backend (Go)

Affected versions

< 0.0.0-20260114065515-5a9c2f92e11f

Patched versions

0.0.0-20260114065515-5a9c2f92e11f

Description

Summary

Arcane’s updater service supported lifecycle labels com.getarcaneapp.arcane.lifecycle.pre-update and com.getarcaneapp.arcane.lifecycle.post-update that allowed defining a command to run before or after a container update. The label value is passed directly to /bin/sh -c without sanitization or validation.

Because any authenticated user (not limited to administrators) can create projects through the API, an attacker can create a project that specifies one of these lifecycle labels with a malicious command. When an administrator later triggers a container update (either manually or via scheduled update checks), Arcane reads the lifecycle label and executes its value as a shell command inside the container.

If the container is configured with host volume mounts in its Compose definition, the executed command may be able to read from or write to the host filesystem through the mounted paths. This can enable data theft and, in some configurations, escalation to full host compromise (for example, if /var/run/docker.sock is mounted).

Impact

  • Remote code execution (RCE) within the updated container context.
  • Host filesystem access when host volumes are mounted into the container.
  • Potential data exfiltration via outbound network requests or by exposing readable files.
  • Potential full host compromise if sensitive mounts are present (e.g., /var/run/docker.sock).

Patches

The lifecycle labels com.getarcaneapp.arcane.lifecycle.pre-update and com.getarcaneapp.arcane.lifecycle.post-update have been removed to eliminate this attack surface.

References

@kmendell kmendell published to getarcaneapp/arcane Jan 15, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Jan 15, 2026
Reviewed Jan 15, 2026
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Jan 15, 2026
Last updated Jan 15, 2026

Severity

Critical

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS score

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

This score estimates the probability of this vulnerability being exploited within the next 30 days. Data provided by FIRST.
(25th percentile)

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2026-23520

GHSA ID

GHSA-gjqq-6r35-w3r8

Source code

Credits

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