Focus on zsh vulnerabilities and metrics.
Last updated: 08 Mar 2025, 23:25 UTC
This page consolidates all known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) associated with zsh. We track both calendar-based metrics (using fixed periods) and rolling metrics (using gliding windows) to give you a comprehensive view of security trends and risk evolution. Use these insights to assess risk and plan your patching strategy.
For a broader perspective on cybersecurity threats, explore the comprehensive list of CVEs by vendor and product. Stay updated on critical vulnerabilities affecting major software and hardware providers.
Total zsh CVEs: 12
Earliest CVE date: 04 Dec 2007, 00:46 UTC
Latest CVE date: 14 Feb 2022, 12:15 UTC
Latest CVE reference: CVE-2021-45444
30-day Count (Rolling): 0
365-day Count (Rolling): 0
Calendar-based Variation
Calendar-based Variation compares a fixed calendar period (e.g., this month versus the same month last year), while Rolling Growth Rate uses a continuous window (e.g., last 30 days versus the previous 30 days) to capture trends independent of calendar boundaries.
Month Variation (Calendar): 0%
Year Variation (Calendar): 0%
Month Growth Rate (30-day Rolling): 0.0%
Year Growth Rate (365-day Rolling): 0.0%
Average CVSS: 6.42
Max CVSS: 7.5
Critical CVEs (≥9): 0
| Range | Count |
|---|---|
| 0.0-3.9 | 1 |
| 4.0-6.9 | 3 |
| 7.0-8.9 | 9 |
| 9.0-10.0 | 0 |
These are the five CVEs with the highest CVSS scores for zsh, sorted by severity first and recency.
In zsh before 5.8.1, an attacker can achieve code execution if they control a command output inside the prompt, as demonstrated by a %F argument. This occurs because of recursive PROMPT_SUBST expansion.
In Zsh before 5.8, attackers able to execute commands can regain privileges dropped by the --no-PRIVILEGED option. Zsh fails to overwrite the saved uid, so the original privileges can be restored by executing MODULE_PATH=/dir/with/module zmodload with a module that calls setuid().
An issue was discovered in zsh before 5.6. Shebang lines exceeding 64 characters were truncated, potentially leading to an execve call to a program name that is a substring of the intended one.
An issue was discovered in zsh before 5.6. The beginning of a #! script file was mishandled, potentially leading to an execve call to a program named on the second line.
zsh through version 5.4.2 is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow in the utils.c:checkmailpath function. A local attacker could exploit this to execute arbitrary code in the context of another user.
Zsh before version 5.4.2-test-1 is vulnerable to a buffer overflow in the shell autocomplete functionality. A local unprivileged user can create a specially crafted directory path which leads to code execution in the context of the user who tries to use autocomplete to traverse the before mentioned path. If the user affected is privileged, this leads to privilege escalation.
zsh through version 5.4.2 is vulnerable to a stack-based buffer overflow in the exec.c:hashcmd() function. A local attacker could exploit this to cause a denial of service.
In params.c in zsh through 5.4.2, there is a crash during a copy of an empty hash table, as demonstrated by typeset -p.
In subst.c in zsh through 5.4.2, there is a NULL pointer dereference when using ${(PA)...} on an empty array result.
In utils.c in zsh before 5.4, symlink expansion had a buffer overflow.
In zsh before 5.3, an off-by-one error resulted in undersized buffers that were intended to support PATH_MAX characters.
In exec.c in zsh before 5.0.7, there is a buffer overflow for very long fds in the ">& fd" syntax.
Util/difflog.pl in zsh 4.3.4 allows local users to overwrite arbitrary files via a symlink attack on temporary files.