The vulnerability allows a malicious or compromised credentials file to execute arbitrary commands on the host system with the privileges of the application process. The Pluggable subclass of the module reads the field credential_source.executable.command from the JSON and performs a single-argument system call through /bin/sh -c without any gating or validation. As a result, any user who can supply or modify the credentials JSON can inject code that will run as the process that loads the credentials.

Versions of the Perl module Google::Auth from the package CJCOLLIER released prior to 0.06 are affected. Any application that relies on the Application Default Credentials flow, particularly those that consume a credentials file named by the environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS and use a "type": "external_account" configuration, will hit the vulnerable code path. No specific minor versions are enumerated; all pre‑0.06 releases are included.

The flaw is a classic command injection (CWE‑78) that escalates privileges where the credentials file is writable or under an attacker’s control (CWE‑829). The absence of a verification gate means the attack is straight‑forward: write the credentials JSON to trigger an arbitrary command in the process context. The affected module is not listed in CISA KEV and the EPSS score is unavailable, but the impact is high because any attacker who can tamper with the credentials file can execute code and compromise the host, leading to data loss, credential theft, and lateral movement.