⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 8.1

How to Fix CVE-2026-28291: OS command injection in git-js

By Sai Kiran Pandrala. Last verified: 2026-05-25.

⚡ At a glance
Severity8.1 (High)
Actively exploited?No public listing in CISA KEV
Affectedsteveukx git-js < 3.32.0
Fixed ingit-js 3.32.0
Type (CWE)CWE-78: CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

What is CVE-2026-28291?

simple-git enables running native Git commands from JavaScript. Versions up to and including 3.31.1 allow execution of arbitrary commands through Git option manipulation, bypassing safety checks meant to block dangerous options like -u and --upload-pack. The flaw stems from an incomplete fix for CVE-2022-25860, as Git's flexible option parsing allows numerous character combinations (e.g., -vu, -4u, -nu) to circumvent the regular-expression-based blocklist in the unsafe operations plugin. Due to the virtually infinite number of valid option variants that Git accepts, a complete blocklist-based mitigation may be infeasible without fully emulating Git's option parsing behavior.

Am I affected?

Run the version check that matches your platform:


# Linux
dpkg -s default-jdk 2>/dev/null | grep -i version
rpm -q default-jdk 2>/dev/null
default-jdk --version 2>/dev/null

Compare what you see against the Affected row above (steveukx git-js < 3.32.0). If your build sits inside that range, you are exposed and should patch.

How to fix CVE-2026-28291

The primary fix is to upgrade git-js to the patched build. Use the commands for your platform below; the patched version listed in the vendor advisory is: git-js 3.32.0.

Ubuntu / Debian


sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade default-jdk
default-jdk --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -s default-jdk | grep -i version

RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux


sudo dnf upgrade --security default-jdk -y
rpm -q default-jdk

SUSE / openSUSE


sudo zypper patch --category security
rpm -q default-jdk

Complete PowerShell remediation script (Windows)


# Fix script for CVE-2026-28291 affecting Java
# Run as administrator. Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
$LogPath  = "C:\Logs\CVE-2026-28291-fix-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmmss).log"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force (Split-Path $LogPath) | Out-Null
Start-Transcript -Path $LogPath -Append

try {
    Write-Host "[1/4] Detecting installed version of Java"
    $pkg = winget list --id "Java" 2>$null
    Write-Host $pkg

    Write-Host "[2/4] Backing up configuration"
    $backup = "C:\Backup\Java-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd)"
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $backup | Out-Null
    Get-ChildItem "C:\ProgramData\Java" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Copy-Item -Destination $backup -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    Write-Host "[3/4] Applying upgrade to git-js 3.32.0"
    winget upgrade --id "Java" --silent --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
    # Fallback: Windows Update for OS-level fixes
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
        Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force -SkipPublisherCheck -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
        Install-WindowsUpdate -MicrosoftUpdate -AcceptAll -IgnoreReboot
    }

    Write-Host "[4/4] Verifying patched build"
    winget list --id "Java"
    Write-Host "Fix applied. Reboot if prompted."
    exit 0
} catch {
    Write-Error "Patch failed: $_"
    exit 1
} finally {
    Stop-Transcript
}

Complete Bash remediation script (Linux)


#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Fix script for CVE-2026-28291 affecting Java
# Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

set -euo pipefail
LOG="/var/log/cve-2026-28291-fix-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).log"
exec > >(tee -a "$LOG") 2>&1

echo "[1/4] Detecting installed version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s default-jdk 2>/dev/null | grep -i version || echo "default-jdk not installed via dpkg"
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q default-jdk || echo "default-jdk not installed via rpm"
fi

echo "[2/4] Backing up configuration"
BACKUP="/root/backup-cve-2026-28291-$(date +%Y%m%d)"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP"
for d in /etc/default-jdk /etc/default-jdk.d /etc/default-jdk.conf; do
    [ -e "$d" ] && cp -a "$d" "$BACKUP/" || true
done

echo "[3/4] Applying upgrade (target: git-js 3.32.0)"
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
    apt-get update
    apt-get install --only-upgrade -y default-jdk
elif command -v dnf >/dev/null; then
    dnf upgrade --security -y default-jdk
elif command -v yum >/dev/null; then
    yum update -y default-jdk
elif command -v zypper >/dev/null; then
    zypper --non-interactive patch --category security
fi

echo "[4/4] Verifying patched build"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s default-jdk 2>/dev/null | grep -i version
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q default-jdk
fi
echo "Done. Restart any running daemons that loaded the old library."

If you can't patch immediately

If you cannot apply the patched version today, restrict exposure with one of the following runnable controls. None replace the patch.

Network restriction (Linux, nftables)


# Block inbound traffic to the affected service from untrusted networks
sudo nft add table inet filter
sudo nft 'add chain inet filter input { type filter hook input priority 0 ; }'
sudo nft 'add rule inet filter input tcp dport {443, 80} ip saddr != 10.0.0.0/8 drop'
sudo nft list ruleset

Service-level fallback


# If the affected feature is optional, stop the service until the patch is applied
sudo systemctl stop default-jdk
sudo systemctl disable default-jdk

How to verify the fix worked


# Linux
default-jdk --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -s default-jdk | grep -i version
rpm -q default-jdk 2>/dev/null || true


# Windows
winget list | findstr /I "default-jdk"
Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

Expected: the reported version is at or above git-js 3.32.0. Restart any services that loaded the old library (systemctl restart <service> on Linux, restart the Windows service or reboot when prompted). For network appliances, run show version on the device and confirm the build matches the patched release.

Frequently asked questions

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

Is CVE-2026-28291 actually being exploited?

According to the data sources above, no public confirmation of in-the-wild exploitation at this time. Either way, the fix is the same: apply the vendor patch.

Do I need to reboot after patching?

For OS or kernel updates, yes. For most userland packages a systemctl restart <service> is enough. Any process that loaded the old shared library keeps using it until restarted, so when in doubt, reboot.

What is the CVSS score?

8.1 (high). Refer to the vendor advisory for the exact vector string.

Where is the official advisory?

See the References section at the bottom of this page; the vendor's URL is the authoritative source for affected builds and patched versions.

References

*Written by Sai Kiran Pandrala. Assembled from the official vendor advisory, NVD record, and CISA KEV listing on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor's advisory before applying changes in production.*