Path Traversal in Electerm

CVE-2026-43940

electerm is an open-sourced terminal/ssh/sftp/telnet/serialport/RDP/VNC/Spice/ftp client. Prior to version 3.7.16, the runWidget function in src/app/widgets/load-widget.js constructs a file path by directly concatenating user‑supplied widget identifiers without any sanitisation. Because runWidget is exposed to the renderer process via an asynchronous IPC handler with no input validation, an attacker who achieves JavaScript execution inside the renderer (for example, through a malicious plugin or a cross‑site scripting flaw in the built‑in webview) can abuse a path traversal (../) to load and execute an arbitrary JavaScript file anywhere on the victim’s filesystem. This gives the attacker local code execution with the full privileges of the electerm process, leading to complete system compromise. This issue has been patched in version 3.7.16.

Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)

EPSS: 0.002 (6.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-43940?
CVE-2026-43940 is a high-severity vulnerability in Electerm, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 8.4/10. Published 2026-05-08.
How severe is CVE-2026-43940?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.4 out of 10.