CVE-2025-69262
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a command injection vulnerability in pnpm package manager versions 6.25.0 through 10.26.2. Attackers who can control environment variables during pnpm operations can achieve remote code execution in build environments. This affects developers and CI/CD systems using vulnerable pnpm versions.
💻 Affected Systems
- pnpm
📦 What is this software?
Pnpm by Pnpm
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full remote code execution on build servers leading to complete system compromise, data theft, and lateral movement within infrastructure.
Likely Case
Build environment compromise leading to supply chain attacks, credential theft, and malicious code injection into production artifacts.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper environment variable controls and network segmentation, potentially only affecting isolated build containers.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires attacker control over environment variables during pnpm operations, which is plausible in CI/CD environments or shared development systems.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 10.27.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/security/advisories/GHSA-2phv-j68v-wwqx
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update pnpm globally: npm install -g pnpm@10.27.0
2. Update pnpm in project dependencies: pnpm add -D pnpm@10.27.0
3. Update CI/CD pipeline configurations to use pnpm@10.27.0
4. Verify all build environments use patched version
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable tokenHelper in .npmrc
allRemove or disable tokenHelper configuration in .npmrc files to prevent environment variable substitution.
Remove any lines containing 'tokenHelper' from .npmrc files
Restrict environment variable access
allLimit which environment variables are exposed to pnpm processes in CI/CD pipelines.
Review and sanitize environment variables in build scripts and CI/CD configurations
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict environment variable controls in CI/CD pipelines
- Isolate build environments using containers with minimal privileges
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check pnpm version: pnpm --version. If version is between 6.25.0 and 10.26.2 inclusive, and .npmrc uses tokenHelper with environment variables, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
pnpm --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Run pnpm --version and confirm version is 10.27.0 or higher.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected command execution during pnpm operations
- Suspicious environment variable usage in build logs
- Failed pnpm operations with command injection errors
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from build servers during package installation
SIEM Query:
Process execution where parent process contains 'pnpm' and command contains suspicious shell metacharacters