Vulnerability in Photostructure Exiftool-Vendored.js

CVE-2026-43893

exiftool-vendored provides cross-platform Node.js access to ExifTool. Prior to 35.19.0, exiftool-vendored starts ExifTool in -stay_open True -@ - mode, where arguments are read from stdin one per line. In affected versions, several caller-supplied strings were interpolated into ExifTool arguments without rejecting line delimiters. A newline or carriage return inside one of those strings could split a single intended argument into multiple ExifTool arguments, allowing argument injection. The fix also rejects NUL bytes as unsafe control characters. Applications that pass attacker-controlled strings to affected APIs may allow an attacker to make ExifTool read files accessible to the ExifTool process, or write output to attacker-chosen file system paths accessible to that process. No remote code execution has been demonstrated. This vulnerability is fixed in 35.19.0.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.2 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (42.6th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 43rd percentile — 42.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-43893: held from 0.005 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-43893?
CVE-2026-43893 is a high-severity vulnerability in Photostructure Exiftool-Vendored.js, classified under Argument Injection. CVSS score: 8.2/10. Published 2026-05-11.
How severe is CVE-2026-43893?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.2 out of 10.
Is CVE-2026-43893 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.