CVE-2026-52750: Ghidra < 12.1- Command Injection via URL Annotation Click

Synopsis

Command injection in Ghidra (versions before 12.1) allows an attacker to run arbitrary operating system commands by embedding malicious URLs in program comments. The vulnerability is local and requires a victim to click an annotated URL inside the Ghidra interface; it is reachable only when cmd.exe metacharacters appear in a comment that a user opens. Successful exploitation gives the attacker full execution of arbitrary commands under the privileges of the Ghidra user, with high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the local system. A patched-image rebuild at version 12.1 is available on HarborGuard for affected environments.

HarborGuard Coverage

Exploit Conditions

• Network reachabilityNot required

  The attacker does not need network access; exploitation requires an existing presence on the host or the ability to plant malicious content (such as a crafted binary with embedded comments) that the local user opens in Ghidra.

• AuthenticationNot required

  No account or credential is needed to embed the malicious URL payload; the attacker only needs a way to get a crafted file in front of the victim.

• Victim interactionRequired

  The victim must click an annotated URL inside the Ghidra interface for the injected command to execute, making this a social-engineering-dependent attack path.

• Attack complexityDetail

  Attack complexity is rated High, meaning the exploit depends on specific preconditions (AT:P indicates a particular target configuration must be present), so it is not reliably triggered in every environment.

Blast Radius

• Executes arbitrary commands as the Ghidra user, giving the attacker full control over any process or file accessible to that account.
• Reads files, environment variables, and secrets accessible to the Ghidra process, including API keys, SSH keys, or cached credentials stored on the analyst workstation.
• Modifies or deletes files on the local system, including Ghidra project data, reverse-engineering artifacts, and any other user-writable content.
• Crashes or disrupts the Ghidra session and any dependent tooling running under the same user account.