CVE-2026-76228: Renovate before 42.68.5 Remote Code Execution via Gradle Wrapper
Affects renovateSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.4 High : upgrade to 42.69.0 soon.
Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 07:30 UTC
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 42.69.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade renovate to 42.69.0.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Homebrewrenovatepkg:brew/renovateOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
Description
Renovate versions >=32.124.0 and before 42.68.5 (and Mend renovate-ce/renovate-ee before 13.3.0) contain a command injection vulnerability in Gradle Wrapper artifact handling. When Renovate processes Gradle Wrapper updates, it invokes a wrapper update command via a shell (e.g. /bin/sh -c ... ./gradlew :wrapper --gradle-distribution-url <value>). If an attacker supplies a malicious gradle-wrapper.properties whose distributionUrl contains shell command substitution syntax such as $(...), the shell evaluates it before Gradle parses the URL, resulting in arbitrary command execution in the Renovate runtime. Exploitation requires the attacker to introduce the malicious file into a repository that Renovate scans; the issue occurs even when allowScripts is disabled.
References
- github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/76xxx/CVE-2026-76228.json (opens in a new tab)
- github.com/renovatebot/renovate/security/advisories/GHSA-pfq2-hh62-7m96 (opens in a new tab)
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-76228 (opens in a new tab)
- vulncheck.com/advisories/renovate-before-remote-code-execution-via-gradle-wrapper (opens in a new tab)