CVE-2026-5208
Published: 08 April 2026
Description
Command injection in alerts in CoolerControl/coolercontrold <4.0.0 allows authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code as root via injected bash commands in alert names
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5)AI
SI-10 directly prevents command injection by requiring validation of untrusted inputs like alert names to reject malicious bash commands.
SI-2 mandates timely remediation of flaws such as this command injection vulnerability through patching to version 4.0.0 or later.
AC-6 limits the impact of injected code execution by enforcing least privilege, preventing the coolercontrold process from running as root unnecessarily.
Security SummaryAI
CVE-2026-5208 is a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the alerts component of CoolerControl/coolercontrold versions prior to 4.0.0. It enables attackers to inject bash commands into alert names, leading to arbitrary code execution. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.2 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its potential for complete system compromise with low complexity but requiring local access and high privileges.
An authenticated attacker with high privileges on the affected system can exploit this vulnerability locally by crafting malicious alert names containing injected bash commands. Successful exploitation allows execution of arbitrary code with root privileges, potentially granting full control over the host system, including data exfiltration, persistence, or further lateral movement.
The vulnerability is demonstrated in the source code of version 3.1.0 at alerts.rs line 576 on the project's GitLab repository. Mitigation is available via upgrade to CoolerControl/coolercontrol version 4.0.0 or later, as announced in the corresponding release notes.
Details
- CWE(s)
Affected Products
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) allows arbitrary bash command execution as root (T1059.004: Unix Shell) from a high-privilege context, facilitating privilege escalation (T1068).