Zed: Allowlist Bypass via Environment Variable Injection in Terminal Tool Permissions
Priority HIGH 72CWE-184Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-78.
Summary
Zed is a code editor. Prior to 0.229.0, Zed's terminal tool permission system can be bypassed by prepending environment variable assignments to allowlisted commands, hijacking program behavior (e.g., PAGER) to execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.229.0.
Why it matters now
Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00232 14th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed zed (zed-industries): 0.229.0
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zed-industries | zed | before 0.229.0 | 0.229.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- zed Vendorzed-industries Affected before 0.229.0 Fixed in 0.229.0 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:zed:zed:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 0.229.0 | Vulnerable | zed-industries |
- cpe:2.3:a:zed:zed:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 0.229.0 Vulnerable ·zed-industries
Remediation
- Fix · CNA zed (zed-industries) Fixed in 0.229.0
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-44463
More zed-industries Zed vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-32402 Zed: Allowlist Bypass via Bash Variable Expansion Chain in Terminal Tool Permissions CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-22318 Zed Extension Sandbox Escape via Tar Symlink Following CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-32405 Zed: Allowlist Bypass via Bash Arithmetic Expansion in Terminal Tool Permissions CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2026-32404 Zed: Zed IDE Arbitrary Code Execution via untrusted repository with poisoned .git/config CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2026-32401 Zed: Remote Command Injection via Unquoted Environment Variable Keys (SSH / WSL Remote) CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2026-20868 Zed does not show Parameter Values for MCP Tool Calls. Users cannot detect tool poisoning. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.0
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences