OS Command Injection in ExifTool SetMacOSTags on macOS
CVE-2026-3102 is an OS command injection vulnerability in ExifTool affecting macOS in versions 13.49 and earlier. The flaw is in the SetMacOSTags function in lib/Image/ExifTool/MacOS.pm, reached during handling of macOS file creation date metadata in the PNG file parser workflow. A user-controlled metadata value, described in the reporting as a tainted DateTimeOriginal value later copied into FileCreateDate/MDItemFSCreationDate, is passed unsafely into a system command that invokes /usr/bin/setfile. Because the date value is not properly sanitized before shell execution, an attacker can embed shell metacharacters such as single quotes in image metadata and cause arbitrary command execution when ExifTool processes the crafted file on macOS. Public reporting indicates exploitation is facilitated by using the -n flag to bypass normal date conversion/validation and the -tagsFromFile feature to copy a permissive source tag such as DateTimeOriginal into the vulnerable FileCreateDate path.
Impact, mitigation & remediation
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Impact
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Mitigation
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Remediation
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Exploits
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No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.
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Recent activity
31 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. Mallory keeps watching after this page renders.
A command injection vulnerability in ExifTool on macOS that allows arbitrary shell command execution via malicious image metadata processed through FileCreateDate handling.
A command injection vulnerability in ExifTool on macOS that allows arbitrary shell command execution via crafted image metadata when using the -n / -printConv flag and copying metadata into FileCreateDate.
A critical macOS-focused remote code execution issue in ExifTool where malicious shell commands can be embedded in the EXIF DateTimeOriginal metadata field and executed when ExifTool is run with the -n/--printConv option, due to improper neutralization of OS command special elements (CWE-78).
A remote code execution vulnerability in ExifTool on macOS where malicious shell commands embedded in an image’s DateTimeOriginal metadata field can be executed when ExifTool is run with the -n/--printConv flag.
A critical command execution vulnerability in ExifTool on macOS where malicious shell commands embedded in image metadata (specifically an invalidly formatted DateTimeOriginal field) can be executed when processed under certain conditions (notably with the -n/--printConv flag enabled).
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