---
id: CVE-2026-53534
title: JabRef is a desktop application for managing BibTeX and BibLaTeX libraries
summary: >-
  JabRef is a desktop application for managing BibTeX and BibLaTeX libraries.
  Prior to 6.0-alpha.6, when jabsrv or JabRef's built-in HTTP server is enabled,
  the GET /better-bibtex/cayw endpoint accepts an external command query
  parameter a…
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'
cwe:
  - CWE-78
vendor: JabRef
product: jabref
affected:
  - jabref < 6.0-alpha.6
published: '2026-09-17'
updated: '2026-09-17'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-17T22:16:59.617'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53534'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/commit/b8663fe58e6c87c3927cdb4eeb1f6934d7c3f1d2
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/pull/15628'
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/releases/tag/v6.0-alpha.6'
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/security/advisories/GHSA-m42c-cw93-p629'
    label: security-advisories@github.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
cvssSource: cna
ingestedAt: '2026-09-17T22:30:21.397Z'
epss: 0.00353
epssPercentile: 0.28907
---

## Overview

JabRef is a desktop application for managing BibTeX and BibLaTeX libraries. Prior to 6.0-alpha.6, when jabsrv or JabRef's built-in HTTP server is enabled, the GET /better-bibtex/cayw endpoint accepts an external command query parameter and CAYWQueryParams.getCommand() passes it through CAYWResource.getCitation() into PushToSublimeText.getCommandLine(). On Unix-like systems, PushToSublimeText combines this untrusted cite-command prefix and citation keys into a string executed through sh -c by ProcessBuilder without shell escaping. A client that can cause a localhost request with application=sublime can inject shell metacharacters and execute operating-system commands as the JabRef user when a valid Sublime Text command path is configured and the victim completes the CAYW selection dialog. The built-in server is disabled by default, so exploitation requires the victim to enable it or run jabsrv. This issue is fixed in version 6.0-alpha.6.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.