CVE-2021-23378
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2021-23378 is a critical command injection vulnerability in the picotts npm package. Attackers can execute arbitrary system commands by providing malicious input to the say() function. All users of the picotts package are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- picotts npm package
📦 What is this software?
Picotts by Picotts Project
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise allowing attackers to execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the Node.js process, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or complete system takeover.
Likely Case
Remote code execution leading to data exfiltration, installation of backdoors, or lateral movement within the network.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if input validation prevents malicious payloads from reaching the vulnerable function.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation is straightforward - attacker simply needs to pass malicious shell commands to the vulnerable function.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: N/A
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/luisivan/node-picotts
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Remove picotts package from your project. 2. Use alternative text-to-speech solutions. 3. Restart your application.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input Sanitization
allImplement strict input validation and sanitization for all user inputs passed to the say() function
Package Replacement
allReplace picotts with a maintained alternative text-to-speech package
npm uninstall picotts
npm install [alternative-package]
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation to reject any input containing shell metacharacters
- Run the application with minimal privileges and in a sandboxed environment
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check package.json for picotts dependency: grep -r 'picotts' package.jsonCheck Version:
npm list picottsVerify Fix Applied:
Verify picotts is not in package.json and not installed in node_modules📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual system command execution from Node.js process
- Suspicious shell commands in application logs
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from the application server
SIEM Query:
process.name:node.exe AND command_line:*cmd.exe* OR command_line:*powershell* OR command_line:*bash*