Kiota, an OpenAPI-based HTTP client code generator, suffered from a command injection flaw in the way it handled the OpenAPI specification field x-ms-kiota-info.languagesInformation.<language>.dependencyInstallCommand. Prior to version 1.32.5, the tool read the dependency install command supplied by the specification and presented it as the recommended command for installing dependencies. An attacker controlling or compromising the specification could embed arbitrary shell commands in that field. When users trusted and executed the suggested command—either manually or automatically via the Kiota VS Code extension’s kiota info --json dependency‑install flow—the injected commands were executed with the privileges of the user running Kiota, allowing full remote command execution on the local machine. This vulnerability is classified as CWE‑829 (Command Injection) and also involves CWE‑94 (Improper Input Sanitization) weaknesses.

The vulnerability affects the Microsoft Kiota project. Versions older than 1.32.5 are vulnerable; version 1.32.5 and later contain the fix and are not affected. The advisory includes Microsoft Kiota as the sole impacted vendor.

The CVSS score of 9.3 reflects a high severity, with full adversary privileges when the command is executed. The EPSS score is 3%, indicating a low but non‑zero likelihood of exploitation, but the attacker would still need an attacker‑controlled OpenAPI specification and a user or extension that processes it. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Attackers can exploit this via the Kiota command‑line interface or the VS Code extension if it auto‑executes dependency‑install commands, making it most dangerous in environments where untrusted specifications are processed without validation.