CVE-2026-48161 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2026-48161
Vulnerability Scoring

Analysis In Progress
Analysis In Progress

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity:
    Attack Complexity Analysis In Progress
  • Attack Vector:
    Attack Vector Under Analysis
  • Privileges Required: None
    No authentication is required for exploitation.
  • Scope:
    Impact is confined to the initially vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2026-48161 Details

Status: Received on 10 Aug 2026, 23:16 UTC

Published on: 10 Aug 2026, 23:16 UTC

CVSS Release:

CVE-2026-48161 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2026-48161: react18-use is a React 19 use hook shim. Between 2026-05-19 01:07:01 and 2026-05-19 15:20:43, the default branch contained malicious commits 7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 through 7b79148d1495a2505f9277da295a98cf176f4496 that executed remote attacker-controlled code on developer machines during `npm install`. The commits were removed by force-push, but local clones, forks, and direct-SHA URLs may still contain them, and `npm install` against an affected checkout will still execute the code today. The package was not published to npm. `src/install.js` was added and wired into the `postinstall` script. It fetched a JavaScript payload from an attacker-controlled HTTPS endpoint (configurable via an environment variable), disabled TLS verification, and evaluated the response as code with `require` available. Execution was deliberately skipped on CI and cloud/serverless environments, targeting developer workstations. The second-stage payload was attacker-hosted and cannot be reconstructed. Assume full compromise of anything reachable from a Node process with the user's permissions. Those who ran `npm install` against an affected checkout on a developer machine on or after 2026-05-19 01:07:01 should treat the machine as compromised, rotate every credential the machine could reach, audit account activity since 2026-05-19 01:07:01, and clean local clones.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2026-48161

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2026-48161 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2026-48161

No exploitability data is available for CVE-2026-48161.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-48161, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-48161, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: None
    CVE-2026-48161 does not compromise confidentiality.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2026-48161 does not impact data integrity.
  • Availability: None
    CVE-2026-48161 does not affect system availability.

CVE-2026-48161 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-506

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Infected Software CAPEC-442 An adversary adds malicious logic, often in the form of a computer virus, to otherwise benign software. This logic is often hidden from the user of the software and works behind the scenes to achieve negative impacts. Many times, the malicious logic is inserted into empty space between legitimate code, and is then called when the software is executed. This pattern of attack focuses on software already fielded and used in operation as opposed to software that is still under development and part of the supply chain.
  • Embed Virus into DLL CAPEC-448 An adversary tampers with a DLL and embeds a computer virus into gaps between legitimate machine instructions. These gaps may be the result of compiler optimizations that pad memory blocks for performance gains. The embedded virus then attempts to infect any machine which interfaces with the product, and possibly steal private data or eavesdrop.
  • Hiding Malicious Data or Code within Files CAPEC-636 Files on various operating systems can have a complex format which allows for the storage of other data, in addition to its contents. Often this is metadata about the file, such as a cached thumbnail for an image file. Unless utilities are invoked in a particular way, this data is not visible during the normal use of the file. It is possible for an attacker to store malicious data or code using these facilities, which would be difficult to discover.

Protect Your Infrastructure against CVE-2026-48161: Combat Critical CVE Threats

Stay updated with real-time CVE vulnerabilities and take action to secure your systems. Enhance your cybersecurity posture with the latest threat intelligence and mitigation techniques. Develop the skills necessary to defend against CVEs and secure critical infrastructures. Join the top cybersecurity professionals safeguarding today's infrastructures.

Other 5 Recently Published CVEs Vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2026-8718 – tls_opt_dtls_peer_connection_id_value_get() in subsys/net/lib/sockets/sockets_tls.c, which handles getsockopt(SOL_TLS, TLS_DTLS_PEER_CID_VALUE), pa...
  • CVE-2026-48161 – react18-use is a React 19 use hook shim. Between 2026-05-19 01:07:01 and 2026-05-19 15:20:43, the default branch contained malicious commits 7b7914...
  • CVE-2026-11812 – The UpdateHub management subsystem (subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c) drives every update operation through a single file-scope ctx structure that...
  • CVE-2026-11811 – The UpdateHub over-the-air update client's start_coap_client() in subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c leaks the CoAP/DTLS socket descriptor on its co...
  • CVE-2025-30241 – Certain web interface components in affected TP-Link Aginet devices do not validate and sanitize user-supplied input properly before passing it to ...