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High

Code Signing Bypass on Windows in electron-updater < 6.3.0-alpha.6

Type: advisorySources: OSV

electron-updater allows for automatic updates for Electron apps. The file `packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts` implements the signature validation routine for Electron applications on Windows. Because of the surrounding shell, a first pass by `cmd.exe` expands any environment variable found in command-line above. This creates a situation where `verifySignature()` can be tricked into validating the certificate of a different file than the one that was just downloaded. If the step is successful, the malicious update will be executed even if its signature is invalid. This attack assumes a compromised update manifest (server compromise, Man-in-the-Middle attack if fetched over HTTP, Cross-Site Scripting to point the application to a malicious updater server, etc.). The patch is available starting from 6.3.0-alpha.6.

Products
Not specified
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
Not specified
CVEs
CVE-2024-39698
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
3 Nov 2026, 02:23 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

Code Signing Bypass on Windows in electron-updater < 6.3.0-alpha.6

core-osv · Original source

Published 9 Jul 2024, 17:50 UTC

electron-updater allows for automatic updates for Electron apps. The file `packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts` implements the signature validation routine for Electron applications on Windows. Because of the surrounding shell, a first pass by `cmd.exe` expands any environment variable found in command-line above. This creates a situation where `verifySignature()` can be tricked into validating the certificate of a different file than the one that was just downloaded. If the step is successful, the malicious update will be executed even if its signature is invalid. This attack assumes a compromised update manifest (server compromise, Man-in-the-Middle attack if fetched over HTTP, Cross-Site Scripting to point the application to a malicious updater server, etc.). The patch is available starting from 6.3.0-alpha.6.

osv:CVE-2024-39698
Complete source record
{
  "id": "eca2a13600008f4f295d5cc30331f558f01e6e5fad405f48ca5dd9f329d80a0e",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-39698",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "Code Signing Bypass on Windows in electron-updater < 6.3.0-alpha.6",
    "summary": "electron-updater allows for automatic updates for Electron apps. The file `packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts` implements the signature validation routine for Electron applications on Windows. Because of the surrounding shell, a first pass by `cmd.exe` expands any environment variable found in command-line above. This creates a situation where `verifySignature()` can be tricked into validating the certificate of a different file than the one that was just downloaded. If the step is successful, the malicious update will be executed even if its signature is invalid. This attack assumes a compromised update manifest (server compromise, Man-in-the-Middle attack if fetched over HTTP, Cross-Site Scripting to point the application to a malicious updater server, etc.). The patch is available starting from 6.3.0-alpha.6.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2024-39698",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "high",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2024-39698",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2024-39698",
        "GHSA-9jxc-qjr9-vjxq"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V3",
          "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "a4eeaded7a7e0da77112a1c96786d80f90e47083"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "ac2e6a25aa491c1ef5167a552c19fc2085cd427f"
                }
              ],
              "database_specific": {
                "extracted_events": [
                  {
                    "cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:electron:electron-builder:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*",
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "6.3.0"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "CPE_RANGE"
                  },
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "fixed": "ac2e6a25aa491c1ef5167a552c19fc2085cd427f"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "REFERENCES_COMMIT"
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "versions": [
            "v6.2.0",
            "v6.1.0",
            "v6.0.3",
            "v6.0.2",
            "v6.0.1",
            "v6.0.0",
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            "v3.17.0",
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          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2024-39698.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:25.459705358Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/blob/140e2f0eb0df79c2a46e35024e96d0563355fc89/packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts#L35-L41",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/39xxx/CVE-2024-39698.json",
        "https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/security/advisories/GHSA-9jxc-qjr9-vjxq",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-39698",
        "https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/commit/ac2e6a25aa491c1ef5167a552c19fc2085cd427f",
        "https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/pull/8295"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cwe_ids": [
          "CWE-154"
        ],
        "cna_assigner": "GitHub_M",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/39xxx/CVE-2024-39698.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2024-39698",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 491866,
  "published_at": "2024-07-09T17:50:28.169+00:00"
}