CVE-2026-40176VulnerabilityPublished 18 Apr 2026Updated 6 Jul 2026

BIT-composer-2026-40176: Composer is vulnerable to Command Injection via Malicious Perforce Repository

Affects composerSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited : upgrade to 2.9.6 or 2.2.27 soon.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

Severity

High

Rated by Threat Radar · No CVSS score from NVD or the CNA

EPSS: 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 63% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.9.6, 2.2.27

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 18 Apr 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade composer to 2.9.6 or 2.2.27.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Bitnamicomposer`pkg:bitnami/composer`Other threats	Affected >=1.0.0 <2.2.27 >=2.3.0 <2.9.6	Fixed in 2.2.27 2.9.6

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix is available in Composer versions 2.2.27 and 2.9.6. Users should upgrade to one of these versions or later to remediate this vulnerability. Avoid running Composer commands on untrusted projects or with untrusted composer.json files until patched.

Description

Composer, a PHP dependency manager, contains a command injection vulnerability in versions 1.0 through 2.2.26 and 2.3 through 2.9.5. The vulnerability exists in the Perforce::generateP4Command() method, which improperly escapes user-supplied Perforce connection parameters. An attacker can exploit this by crafting a malicious composer.json file declaring a Perforce VCS repository, leading to arbitrary command execution with the privileges of the user running Composer. This issue cannot be exploited through composer.json files of dependencies, only from the root composer.json or composer config directory. The vulnerability is fixed in versions 2.2.27 and 2.9.6.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows arbitrary command execution with the privileges of the user running Composer. This can lead to system compromise or unauthorized actions on the host. The vulnerability affects only users who run Composer on untrusted projects containing malicious composer.json files with Perforce VCS repository declarations. It does not affect composer.json files of installed dependencies.

Summary

Composer versions >=1.0.0 <2.2.27 and >=2.3.0 <2.9.6 are vulnerable to command injection via the Perforce::generateP4Command() method. This method constructs shell commands by interpolating Perforce connection parameters (port, user, client) without proper escaping, allowing an attacker to inject arbitrary commands through a malicious composer.json file that declares a Perforce VCS repository. Exploitation requires running Composer commands on untrusted projects with attacker-controlled composer.json files. The vulnerability is resolved in Composer 2.2.27 and 2.9.6.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Jul 2026, 23:06 UTC

Technical details

References

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