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CVE-2026-81856GHSA-fpmj-3cxg-p766

Terminal escape sequence injection in Hex via unneutralized server-supplied output

hexpm hex
CVSS
2.3Low
ExploitationNo known exploitationNot in CISA KEV, which does not prove it is unexploitedCISA KEV
Exploit odds (EPSS)0.37%Chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 29% of CVEs. Scored 23 Oct 2026FIRST EPSS
Fixed in2.5.2Fixed versionCVE List
Published12 Oct 2026Updated 16 Oct 2026CVE List

What fixes it

A fixed version on one release line is not the upgrade target for every line. Check your exact version and any vendor backports.

Description

Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences vulnerability in hexpm hex allows a malicious package publisher or a hostile repository server to inject terminal control sequences into the output of Mix tasks.

Hex prints strings supplied by the package repository and the documentation search service straight to the terminal through Hex.Shell.info/1 and Hex.Shell.error/1, neutralizing no control characters. Affected sinks span package metadata and configuration snippets in mix hex.info, search results in mix hex.package search and mix hex.search, owner and organization listings, publish and sponsor URLs, the authenticated username in mix hex.user, policy identities in mix hex.policy, and API error bodies rendered by Hex.Utils.print_error_result/1. A malicious package can embed ANSI escape sequences (cursor movement, line erase, carriage returns, OSC 52 clipboard writes) or Unicode bidirectional overrides in any of those fields, so the bytes reach the terminal unchanged, forging displayed URLs, package descriptions and suggested commands, concealing real output, or writing to the clipboard. No authentication or privileged position is required; only publishing a package.

This issue affects hex: from 0.0.1 before 2.5.2.

Text from CVE List

Affected versions 2

  • hexaffected: 0.0.1 before 2.5.2CVE List
  • hexaffected: 211303e3f68f5d3ce06450c1ff1a7a770a9ab236 before dd3305ddf0032f6d0b468fd40dbbc3072bfcb8b8CVE List

References 5