Unauthenticated command execution via LaTeX pipe input
Published Jan 29, 2026 · Updated Jan 29, 2026
OS command injection in Ammar Faizi Tea LaTex 1.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands through the tex2png API. The /api.php handler passes the JSON content field to TeaLaTeX::latexCompile, where a crafted \input{|...} pipe invokes a shell command. The endpoint requires no authentication or user interaction, and the published exploit demonstrates a reverse shell from the server-side compiler process.
Summary
What happened
OS command injection in Ammar Faizi Tea LaTex 1.0 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands through the tex2png API. The /api.php handler passes the JSON content field to TeaLaTeX::latexCompile, where a crafted \input{|...} pipe invokes a shell command. The endpoint requires no authentication or user interaction, and the published exploit demonstrates a reverse shell from the server-side compiler process.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-37012
- Published
- Jan 29, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 29, 2026
- Vendor
- Ammar Faizi
- Product
- Tea LaTex
- Classifications
- CWE-78, T1190, T1059.004
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 29, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 29, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=1.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Tea LaTex 1.0 - Remote Code Execution (Unauthenticated)proof of concept · unverified
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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