ModerateVulnerabilityGHSA-5c9j-mhmv-5xgxCVE-2026-70603Published 5 Aug 2026

Electron: shell.openPath path validation bypass via embedded null byte

Affected releases · electron

41.x41.0.0 – 41.1.0Fixed in 41.1.1
40.x40.0.0 – 40.8.5Fixed in 40.9.1
39.x39.0.0 – 39.8.5Fixed in 39.8.6
38.x38.0.0 – 38.8.6No fix on this line yet
37.x37.0.0 – 37.10.3No fix on this line yet
36.x and older0.1.0 – 36.9.5No fix, no longer updated

On 41.x, the newest line:

npm install electron@41.1.1

45.x

Not affected
45.0.0
1 release, latest

41.x

Affected
41.0.0 – 41.1.0
6 releases
Fixed
41.1.1 – 41.10.7
26 releases

40.x

Affected
40.0.0 – 40.8.5
16 releases
Fixed
40.9.1 – 40.10.6
10 releases

39.x

Affected
39.0.0 – 39.8.5
26 releases
Fixed
39.8.6 – 39.8.10
5 releases

38.x

Affected
38.0.0 – 38.8.6
19 releases

37.x

Affected
37.0.0 – 37.10.3
24 releases

36.x

Affected
36.0.0 – 36.9.5
23 releases

35.x

Affected
35.0.0 – 35.7.5
22 releases

34.x

Affected
34.0.0 – 34.5.8
22 releases

33.x

Affected
33.0.0 – 33.4.11
21 releases

32.x

Affected
32.0.0 – 32.3.3
19 releases

31.x

Affected
31.0.0 – 31.7.7
19 releases

30.x

Affected
30.0.0 – 30.5.1
19 releases

29.x

Affected
29.0.0 – 29.4.6
20 releases

28.x

Affected
28.0.0 – 28.3.3
21 releases

27.x

Affected
27.0.0 – 27.3.11
25 releases

26.x

Affected
26.0.0 – 26.6.10
24 releases

25.x

Affected
25.0.0 – 25.9.8
26 releases

24.x

Affected
24.0.0 – 24.8.8
29 releases

23.x

Affected
23.0.0 – 23.3.13
25 releases

22.x

Affected
22.0.0 – 22.3.27
33 releases

21.x

Affected
21.0.0 – 21.4.4
18 releases

20.x

Affected
20.0.0 – 20.3.12
23 releases

19.x

Affected
19.0.0 – 19.1.9
28 releases

18.x

Affected
18.0.0 – 18.3.15
25 releases

17.x

Affected
17.0.0 – 17.4.11
20 releases

16.x

Affected
16.0.0 – 16.2.8
22 releases

15.x

Affected
15.0.0 – 15.5.7
24 releases

14.x

Affected
14.0.0 – 14.2.9
15 releases

13.x

Affected
13.0.0 – 13.6.9
29 releases

12.x

Affected
12.0.0 – 12.2.3
26 releases

11.x

Affected
11.0.0 – 11.5.0
27 releases

10.x

Affected
10.0.0 – 10.4.7
22 releases

9.x

Affected
9.0.0 – 9.4.4
22 releases

8.x

Affected
8.0.0 – 8.5.5
25 releases

7.x

Affected
7.0.0 – 7.3.3
26 releases

6.x

Affected
6.0.0 – 6.1.12
26 releases

5.x

Affected
5.0.0 – 5.0.13
14 releases

4.x

Affected
4.0.0 – 4.2.12
28 releases

3.x

Affected
3.0.0 – 3.1.13
31 releases

2.x

Affected
2.0.0 – 2.0.18
19 releases

1.x

Affected
1.3.1 – 1.8.8
79 releases

0.x

Affected
0.1.0 – 0.4.1
8 releases

Is your project affected?

Paste your package.json, or type the range you declare for electron. It is read in your browser and sent nowhere.

What happens

Impact

shell.openPath() did not reject paths containing embedded null bytes. Apps that perform string-only validation of file paths (for example, checking the file extension) before passing them to shell.openPath() could be bypassed, allowing an attacker-controlled path to open a different file than the one that passed validation.

Apps are only affected if they pass paths derived from untrusted input to shell.openPath() and rely on string-based validation without a filesystem check. Node's fs APIs already reject paths containing null bytes, so apps that call fs.existsSync(), fs.stat(), or similar before shell.openPath() are not affected. Apps that do not call shell.openPath() with untrusted input are not affected.

Workarounds

Reject any path containing a null byte before passing it to shell.openPath():

if (filePath.includes('\0')) throw new Error('invalid path');

Fixed Versions

42.0.0-beta.1
41.1.1
40.9.0
39.8.6

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, email us at security@electronjs.org