CVE-2026-43941

Unvalidated shell.openExternal in electerm allows arbitrary protocol execution via terminal link click

Published May 8, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 9.6 Critical EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
electerm is an open-sourced terminal/ssh/sftp/telnet/serialport/RDP/VNC/Spice/ftp client. In versions 3.8.15 and prior, Electerm's terminal hyperlink handler passes any URL clicked in the terminal directly to shell.openExternal without any protocol validation. An attacker who controls terminal output (e.g., via a malicious SSH server, compromised remote host, or malicious plugin rendering terminal content) can thus achieve arbitrary code execution or local file access on the victim's machine, requiring only that the victim clicks a displayed link. At time of publication, there are no publicly available patches.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-fwf6-j56g-m97c Electerm has an unvalidated shell.openExternal that allows arbitrary protocol execution via terminal link click
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Electerm
Electerm electerm
Vendors & Products Electerm
Electerm electerm
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Electerm Project
Electerm Project electerm
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:electerm_project:electerm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Electerm Project
Electerm Project electerm
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description electerm is an open-sourced terminal/ssh/sftp/telnet/serialport/RDP/VNC/Spice/ftp client. In versions 3.8.15 and prior, Electerm's terminal hyperlink handler passes any URL clicked in the terminal directly to shell.openExternal without any protocol validation. An attacker who controls terminal output (e.g., via a malicious SSH server, compromised remote host, or malicious plugin rendering terminal content) can thus achieve arbitrary code execution or local file access on the victim's machine, requiring only that the victim clicks a displayed link. At time of publication, there are no publicly available patches.
Title Unvalidated shell.openExternal in electerm allows arbitrary protocol execution via terminal link click
Weaknesses CWE-601
CWE-88
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.6, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
May 8, 2026, 9:28 PM
Reserved
May 4, 2026, 4:59 PM
Status
Analyzed
Published
May 8, 2026, 4:16 AM
Modified
Nov 11, 2026, 11:10 PM