📄 Description (English)
radare2 prior to commit bc5a890 contains a command injection vulnerability in the afsv/afsvj command path where crafted ELF binaries can embed malicious r2 command sequences as DWARF DW_TAG_formal_parameter names. Attackers can craft a binary with shell commands in DWARF parameter names that execute when radare2 analyzes the binary with aaa and subsequently runs afsvj, allowing arbitrary shell command execution through the unsanitized parameter interpolation in the pfq command string.
🤖 AI Executive Summary
CVE-2026-40527 is a command injection vulnerability in radare2 that allows arbitrary shell command execution through crafted ELF binaries containing malicious DWARF debug information. Attackers can embed shell commands in DWARF parameter names that execute when radare2 analyzes the binary using the aaa and afsvj commands. With a CVSS score of 7.8 and no patch currently available, this poses a significant risk to security researchers, malware analysts, and reverse engineers in Saudi organizations who use radare2 for binary analysis.
📄 Description (Arabic)
🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 27, 2026 11:00
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability primarily impacts Saudi cybersecurity professionals and organizations in the following sectors: (1) Government/NCA — cybersecurity teams conducting malware analysis and threat intelligence; (2) Banking/SAMA — security operations centers analyzing suspicious binaries and conducting forensic investigations; (3) Telecommunications/STC — security research teams investigating network threats; (4) Critical Infrastructure/Energy — security analysts examining potential supply chain threats; (5) Academic/Research Institutions — cybersecurity researchers using radare2 for security research. The risk is elevated for organizations that process untrusted binaries from external sources or conduct threat analysis on suspected malware samples.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Government/NCA
Banking/SAMA
Telecommunications/STC
Critical Infrastructure/Energy
Healthcare
Academic/Research Institutions
Cybersecurity/Managed Security Service Providers
🎯 MITRE ATT&CK Techniques
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
7.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
Immediate Actions:
1. Identify all systems running radare2 and document versions in use
2. Restrict radare2 usage to trusted, verified binaries only
3. Implement network segmentation to isolate systems running radare2 analysis
4. Disable automated binary analysis workflows until patched
Compensating Controls:
1. Run radare2 analysis in isolated sandboxed environments (containers/VMs) with no network access
2. Execute radare2 with minimal privileges (non-root user accounts)
3. Implement file integrity monitoring on systems running radare2
4. Use AppArmor or SELinux profiles to restrict radare2 process capabilities
5. Monitor for suspicious process spawning from radare2 (parent process: radare2, unexpected child processes)
Detection Rules:
1. Alert on radare2 process spawning shell commands (bash, sh, cmd.exe)
2. Monitor for radare2 reading ELF files from untrusted sources
3. Log all radare2 command execution with full command-line arguments
4. Alert on DWARF debug information containing shell metacharacters (|, ;, &, $, backticks)
Patching Guidance:
1. Monitor radare2 GitHub repository (commit bc5a890 and later) for official patch release
2. When patch available, test in isolated environment before production deployment
3. Implement version pinning to prevent accidental downgrades
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع الأنظمة التي تقوم بتشغيل radare2 وتوثيق الإصدارات المستخدمة
2. تقييد استخدام radare2 على الملفات الثنائية الموثوقة والمتحققة فقط
3. تنفيذ تقسيم الشبكة لعزل الأنظمة التي تقوم بتحليل radare2
4. تعطيل سير العمل الآلي لتحليل الملفات الثنائية حتى يتم تصحيحها
الضوابط التعويضية:
1. تشغيل تحليل radare2 في بيئات معزولة محمية (حاويات/أجهزة افتراضية) بدون وصول للشبكة
2. تنفيذ radare2 بامتيازات دنيا (حسابات المستخدمين غير الجذر)
3. تنفيذ مراقبة سلامة الملفات على الأنظمة التي تقوم بتشغيل radare2
4. استخدام ملفات تعريف AppArmor أو SELinux لتقييد قدرات عملية radare2
5. مراقبة توليد العمليات المريبة من radare2 (عملية الأب: radare2، عمليات فرعية غير متوقعة)
قواعد الكشف:
1. تنبيه عند توليد عملية radare2 لأوامر shell (bash, sh, cmd.exe)
2. مراقبة قراءة radare2 لملفات ELF من مصادر غير موثوقة
3. تسجيل جميع عمليات تنفيذ أوامر radare2 مع معاملات سطر الأوامر الكاملة
4. تنبيه على معلومات تصحيح DWARF التي تحتوي على أحرف shell metacharacters (|, ;, &, $, backticks)
إرشادات التصحيح:
1. مراقبة مستودع radare2 على GitHub (commit bc5a890 والإصدارات اللاحقة) للحصول على إصدار التصحيح الرسمي
2. عند توفر التصحيح، اختبره في بيئة معزولة قبل النشر في الإنتاج
3. تنفيذ تثبيت الإصدار لمنع الانحدار العرضي
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
A.5.1.1 - Information security policies and procedures
A.5.2.1 - User access management
A.5.2.3 - Management of privileged access rights
A.5.3.1 - Password management
A.6.1.1 - Cryptographic controls
A.6.2.1 - Physical and environmental security
A.7.1.1 - Audit logging and monitoring
A.7.2.1 - Malware protection
A.8.1.1 - Incident management
🔵 SAMA CSF
Governance - Risk Management Framework
Governance - Third-party Risk Management
Protect - Access Control and Authentication
Protect - Data Protection and Privacy
Detect - Security Monitoring and Logging
Respond - Incident Response and Management
Recover - Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
A.5.1.1 - Policies for information security
A.5.2.1 - Information security responsibilities
A.5.3.1 - Segregation of duties
A.6.1.1 - Screening
A.6.2.1 - Terms and conditions of employment
A.7.1.1 - Physical entry
A.7.2.1 - Securing workplaces
A.8.1.1 - User endpoint devices
A.8.1.3 - Acceptable use of assets
A.8.2.1 - Classification of information
A.8.3.1 - Handling of removable media
A.8.3.2 - Disposal of media
A.9.1.1 - Access control policy
A.9.2.1 - User registration and de-registration
A.9.2.5 - Access rights review
A.9.4.1 - Information access restriction
A.10.1.1 - Cryptography policy
A.12.4.1 - Event logging
A.12.4.3 - Administrator and operator logs
A.12.6.1 - Management of technical vulnerabilities
A.14.2.1 - Secure development policy
A.16.1.1 - Incident management planning and preparation
🔗 References & Sources 3
🔗
🔗
🔗
https://github.com/radareorg/radare2/commit/bc5a89033db3ecb5b1f7bf681fc6ba4dcfc14683
disclosure@vulncheck.com
https://github.com/radareorg/radare2/pull/25821
disclosure@vulncheck.com
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/radare2-command-injection-via-dwarf-parameter-names
disclosure@vulncheck.com