CVE-2026-101045: fleetdm fleet OS Command Injection

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-101045 is a high (CVSS 8.9) OS Command Injection vulnerability in fleetdm fleet. EPSS estimates a 0.75% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 54.1% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 27-09-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 30-09-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Fleet-maintained app install and uninstall scripts for macOS are generated from Homebrew cask metadata. In manifests generated before 2026-08-19, the script generator escaped this metadata at some interpolation sites but not all of them, so cask metadata containing shell metacharacters (for example $(...) command substitution) could be carried into scripts that execute as root on managed macOS hosts. An attacker who could land crafted metadata in an upstream Homebrew cask — without needing any Fleet credentials — could achieve arbitrary command execution as root on managed macOS hosts that install or uninstall the affected Fleet-maintained app; exploitation required the crafted metadata to pass both upstream Homebrew cask review and Fleet's review of the automated ingestion pull request. The fix (fleetdm/fleet#51324) landed in Fleet's ingestion pipeline on 2026-08-19 so that all manifests generated on or after that date escape cask metadata at every interpolation site; because manifests are generated centrally and distributed as pre-built content, remediation applied to all deployments with no customer action, and the code fix is included in Fleet v4.92.0.

• CWE-78Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')The product constructs all or part of an OS command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended OS command when it is sent to a downstream component.