CVE-2024-39698Code Signing Bypass on Windows in electron-updater < 6.3.0-alpha.6
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 0.43%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 63% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
electron-updater allows for automatic updates for Electron apps. The file `packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts` implements the signature validation routine for Electron applications on Windows. Because of the surrounding shell, a first pass by `cmd.exe` expands any environment variable found in command-line above. This creates a situation where `verifySignature()` can be tricked into validating the certificate of a different file than the one that was just downloaded. If the step is successful, the malicious update will be executed even if its signature is invalid. This attack assumes a compromised update manifest (server compromise, Man-in-the-Middle attack if fetched over HTTP, Cross-Site Scripting to point the application to a malicious updater server, etc.). The patch is available starting from 6.3.0-alpha.6.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 12 days later
· 12 days later
Published
- 24 days later
· 24 days later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.43% · top 63% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
electron-userland · electron-builder
- affected < 6.3.0-alpha.6
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- npmelectron-updaterGHSA-9jxc-qjr9-vjxq (opens in a new tab)
References
References4
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/security/advisories/GHSA-9jxc-qjr9-vjxq (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/pull/8295 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/commit/ac2e6a25aa491c1ef5167a552c19fc2085cd427f (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/blob/140e2f0eb0df79c2a46e35024e96d0563355fc89/packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts#L35-L41 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2024-2310 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-9jxc-qjr9-vjxq (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2024-39698)Record last updated .