CVE-2026-66902
Google::Auth versions before 0.06 for Perl run a command named in an external_account credentials JSON via an ungated system call. The Pluggable subclass reads credential_source.executable.command from the credentials JSON and runs it as `system($command)`, a single argument call that passes the whole string to /bin/sh -c. The executable's environment_variables map from the same JSON is copied into %ENV first. No opt-in gate guards the call. make_creds selects the Pluggable subclass whenever credential_source.executable is present, so the path is reached from the standard Application Default Credentials flow, including a "type": "external_account" configuration read from the file named by GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS. Configurations without credential_source.executable do not select this subclass and do not reach the call. Any caller that builds credentials from a configuration it does not fully control runs the embedded command with the privileges of the application process.
What this means for your business
- An attacker can use it remotely, over a network, without a login, and without anyone at your company clicking anything.
- FIRST's prediction model gives it a 0.4% chance of attack attempts being seen in the next 30 days, ranking above 37% of all known flaws.
What to do
- 1Ask your IT team or provider whether any of your systems use the affected product.
- 2If you do, follow the vendor's guidance. No patch reference has been published yet.
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Scoring
- CVSS
- 9.8 (v3.1)
- Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H- Weakness
- CWE-78
- Assigned by
- 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e
Dates
- Published
- 2026-08-04
- Last modified
- 2026-08-26
- Sources
- NVD