CVE-2026-76228 renovatebot CVE debrief

Who should care

Defenders responsible for Renovate deployments, security teams, and developers using Renovate should assess exposure and apply patches or mitigations. This includes verifying if vulnerable versions are in use, monitoring for suspicious activity, and implementing additional security controls. Security teams should prioritize verifying exposure and applying patches or mitigations, as the vulnerability allows for arbitrary command execution.

Why it matters

CVE-2026-76228 is a command injection vulnerability in Renovate's Gradle Wrapper artifact handling, allowing for arbitrary command execution. Defenders should verify exposure, apply patches, and monitor for suspicious activity.

• Potential for arbitrary command execution in the Renovate runtime
• Possible exploitation through malicious gradle-wrapper.properties files
• Requires verification of exposure and patch application
• May impact repository scanning and Gradle Wrapper updates

Technical summary

The command injection vulnerability exists in Renovate's Gradle Wrapper artifact handling. An attacker can supply a malicious gradle-wrapper.properties file with shell command substitution syntax, leading to arbitrary command execution in the Renovate runtime. This occurs when Renovate processes Gradle Wrapper updates and invokes a wrapper update command via a shell. The vulnerability allows for arbitrary command execution, potentially leading to security breaches. Defenders should assess exposure and apply patches or mitigations.

Defensive priority

Defenders should prioritize verifying exposure and applying patches or mitigations, as the vulnerability allows for arbitrary command execution.

Recommended defensive actions

• Verify exposure by checking if Renovate versions >=32.124.0 and before 42.68.5, or Mend renovate-ce/renovate-ee before 13.3.0 are in use
• Apply patches or mitigations to vulnerable versions
• Monitor for suspicious activity in Renovate runtime
• Restrict access to repository scanning and Gradle Wrapper updates
• Perform vulnerability scanning on Renovate deployments
• Review system logs for potential exploitation attempts
• Implement additional security controls for Gradle Wrapper updates

Evidence notes

The vulnerability is confirmed to exist in Renovate versions >=32.124.0 and before 42.68.5, and Mend renovate-ce/renovate-ee before 13.3.0. Exploitation requires introducing a malicious gradle-wrapper.properties file into a repository that Renovate scans.

Sources and references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.