CVE-2026-82710: Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences vulnerability in ash-project usage_rules allows a malicious package publisher to inject terminal c

Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences vulnerability in ash-project usage_rules allows a malicious package publisher to inject terminal c

Improper Neutralization of Escape, Meta, or Control Sequences vulnerability in ash-project usage_rules allows a malicious package publisher to inject terminal control sequences into the output of mix usage_rules.search_docs. mix usage_rules.search_docs searches Hex documentation through search.hexdocs.pm, which indexes the documentation of every published package, and prints the matching results (title, package, type, doc reference, and highlighted snippets) to the terminal. The formatter in Mix.Tasks.UsageRules.SearchDocs interpolated those publisher-controlled fields verbatim, neutralizing no terminal control characters; the only transform it applied adds escape sequences rather than removing them. A malicious package can embed ANSI terminal escape sequences (cursor movement, line erase, carriage returns, OSC 52 clipboard writes) in its indexed documentation, so when a developer runs a search that surfaces those docs the sequences reach the terminal unchanged — forging the displayed hexdocs URL or a suggested command, hiding text, or writing to the clipboard. No authentication or privileged position is required; only publishing a package. This issue affects usage_rules: from 0.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 6b3ad84c-e1a6-4bf7-a703-f496b71e49db

What it means for a small business

If your business uses usage_rules, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.66%, higher than 51% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 28, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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