---
title: "CVE-2026-23520: Arcane Has a Command Injection in Arcane Updater Lifecycle Labels That Enables RCE"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-23520/
description: "CVE-2026-23520 (github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/backend (Go)): Arcane provides modern docker management. Prior to 1.13.0, Arcane has a command injection in…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2026-01-15
date_modified: 2026-01-15
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2026-23520"
kev: false
cvss: 9.1
epss: 0.01846
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2026-23520: Arcane Has a Command Injection in Arcane Updater Lifecycle Labels That Enables RCE

**Signal:** Critical, preconditions apply. Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 1.8% , percentile 79: FIRST’s model estimates a 1.8% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 79% of all scored CVEs (moderate). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Needs an account (low (any account)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/backend (Go) < 0.0.0-20260114065515-5a9c2f92e11f, fixed in 0.0.0-20260114065515-5a9c2f92e11f . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

Arcane provides modern docker management. Prior to 1.13.0, Arcane has a command injection in the updater service. Arcane’s updater service supported lifecycle labels com.getarcaneapp.arcane.lifecycle.pre-update and com.getarcaneapp.arcane.lifecycle.post-update that allowed defining a command to run before or after a container update. The label value is passed directly to /bin/sh -c without sanitization or validation. Because any authenticated user (not limited to administrators) can create projects through the API, an attacker can create a project that specifies one of these lifecycle labels with a malicious command. When an administrator later triggers a container update (either manually or via scheduled update checks), Arcane reads the lifecycle label and executes its value as a shell command inside the container. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.13.0.

## Affected packages

- Go `github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/backend` < 0.0.0-20260114065515-5a9c2f92e11f → fixed: 0.0.0-20260114065515-5a9c2f92e11f

## Affected products (CVE record)

- getarcaneapp arcane: < 1.13.0

## Severity

- GitHub_M CVSS 3.1: 9.1 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`
- GitHub CVSS 3.1: 9.0 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none , automatable no , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 1.85% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 79.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-gjqq-6r35-w3r8](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-gjqq-6r35-w3r8)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2026-23520](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23520)
- [NVD entry CVE-2026-23520](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23520)
- [github.com](https://github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/security/advisories/GHSA-gjqq-6r35-w3r8)
- [github.com](https://github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/pull/1468)
- [github.com](https://github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/commit/5a9c2f92e11f86f8997da8c672844468f930b7e4)
- [github.com](https://github.com/getarcaneapp/arcane/releases/tag/v1.13.0)

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Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-23520/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt