{"id":"CVE-2026-54525","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Markdown Preview Enhanced: One Click RCE via Markdown Link Command Injection on Windows","description":"Markdown Preview Enhanced is a Markdown preview extension for Visual Studio Code. Prior to 0.8.28, Markdown Preview Enhanced preview-link handling passes a decoded, Markdown-controlled link target to a Windows file-opening helper that invokes child_process.exec with the start command. When a Windows user opens an untrusted Markdown file and clicks a crafted external or unsupported-scheme link, shell metacharacters in the decoded target are interpreted by cmd.exe as command separators, allowing an attacker-selected command to run with the privileges of the current VS Code user. The attack requires one normal preview-link click but does not require malicious workspace configuration, script execution to be enabled, or additional files. This issue is fixed in version 0.8.28.","publishedAt":"2026-10-14T19:06:59.440Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-15T15:05:57.227Z","severity":{"score":8.8,"label":"High","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","source":"GitHub_M"},"assigner":"GitHub_M","products":["shd101wyy vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced"],"affected":[{"vendor":"shd101wyy","product":"vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced","versions":[{"version":"< 0.8.28","status":"affected"}]}],"references":["https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/security/advisories/GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373","https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/pull/442","https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/pull/2318","https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/commit/5588ca2121c3da43fe331575dc5cf4ef347b91ee","https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/commit/dcd80281c986293b93d9f1af34ced64dcb230c77","https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/releases/tag/0.9.29","https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/releases/tag/0.8.28"],"weaknesses":["CWE-78"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:12:24.861Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/54xxx/CVE-2026-54525.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-54525","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-10-14T19:06:59.440Z","dateUpdated":"2026-10-15T15:05:57.227Z","assignerShortName":"GitHub_M","assignerOrgId":"a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa","dateReserved":"2026-06-15T18:40:01.651Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Markdown Preview Enhanced: One Click RCE via Markdown Link Command Injection on Windows","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"Markdown Preview Enhanced is a Markdown preview extension for Visual Studio Code. Prior to 0.8.28, Markdown Preview Enhanced preview-link handling passes a decoded, Markdown-controlled link target to a Windows file-opening helper that invokes child_process.exec with the start command. When a Windows user opens an untrusted Markdown file and clicks a crafted external or unsupported-scheme link, shell metacharacters in the decoded target are interpreted by cmd.exe as command separators, allowing an attacker-selected command to run with the privileges of the current VS Code user. The attack requires one normal preview-link click but does not require malicious workspace configuration, script execution to be enabled, or additional files. This issue is fixed in version 0.8.28."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"shd101wyy","product":"vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced","versions":[{"version":"< 0.8.28","status":"affected"}]}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/security/advisories/GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373","name":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/security/advisories/GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM"]},{"url":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/pull/442","name":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/pull/442","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]},{"url":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/pull/2318","name":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/pull/2318","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]},{"url":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/commit/5588ca2121c3da43fe331575dc5cf4ef347b91ee","name":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/commit/5588ca2121c3da43fe331575dc5cf4ef347b91ee","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]},{"url":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/commit/dcd80281c986293b93d9f1af34ced64dcb230c77","name":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/commit/dcd80281c986293b93d9f1af34ced64dcb230c77","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]},{"url":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/releases/tag/0.9.29","name":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/crossnote/releases/tag/0.9.29","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]},{"url":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/releases/tag/0.8.28","name":"https://github.com/shd101wyy/vscode-markdown-preview-enhanced/releases/tag/0.8.28","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"]}],"metrics":[{"cvssV3_1":{"attackComplexity":"LOW","attackVector":"NETWORK","availabilityImpact":"HIGH","baseScore":8.8,"baseSeverity":"HIGH","confidentialityImpact":"HIGH","integrityImpact":"HIGH","privilegesRequired":"NONE","scope":"UNCHANGED","userInteraction":"REQUIRED","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","version":"3.1"}}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-78","lang":"en","description":"CWE-78: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"GitHub_M","orgId":"a0819718-46f1-4df5-94e2-005712e83aaa","dateUpdated":"2026-10-14T19:06:59.440Z"},"source":{"advisory":"GHSA-7v6f-3vq6-r373","discovery":"UNKNOWN"}},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","metrics":[{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"timestamp":"2026-10-15T13:53:20.006714Z","id":"CVE-2026-54525","options":[{"Exploitation":"none"},{"Automatable":"no"},{"Technical Impact":"total"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}}}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-10-15T15:05:57.227Z"}}]}}}