JabRef CAYW Sublime Text integration permits operating-system command injection (CVE-2026-53534) | HOL Guard CVE

Unknown severity · Source severity not reportedCVE-2026-53534

JabRef CAYW Sublime Text integration permits operating-system command injection

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-53534 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in JabRef CAYW Sublime Text integration permits operating-system command injection. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps JabRef/jabref (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Sep 17, 2026Updated Sep 17, 2026Source checked Sep 17, 2026First seen by HOL Sep 17, 2026Material review Sep 17, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Unknown severitySource severity not reported
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Not reported

Why this deserves its current priority

A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps JabRef/jabref (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
JabRef/jabrefgeneric	< 6.0-alpha.6	Not reported

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for JabRef/jabref.
Review the reported fix. Monitor this advisory for an available fix and review any installs of the affected package.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Sep 17, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Sep 17, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Sep 17, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

JabRef is a desktop application for managing BibTeX and BibLaTeX libraries. Prior to 6.0-alpha.6, when jabsrv or JabRef's built-in HTTP server is enabled, the GET /better-bibtex/cayw endpoint accepts an external command query parameter and CAYWQueryParams.getCommand() passes it through CAYWResource.getCitation() into PushToSublimeText.getCommandLine(). On Unix-like systems, PushToSublimeText combines this untrusted cite-command prefix and citation keys into a string executed through sh -c by ProcessBuilder without shell escaping. A client that can cause a localhost request with application=sublime can inject shell metacharacters and execute operating-system commands as the JabRef user when a valid Sublime Text command path is configured and the victim completes the CAYW selection dialog. The built-in server is disabled by default, so exploitation requires the victim to enable it or run jabsrv. This issue is fixed in version 6.0-alpha.6.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.