CVE-2005-10003 is a medium severity (CVSS 5.6) OS command injection in Xcomic, from mikexstudios, in versions up to 0.8.2. The cmd argument is not handled safely. The fix shipped in version 0.8.3, so upgrade, or remove the install if you no longer use it.
What's affected
Xcomic up to and including 0.8.2. The NVD record lists the product without version bounds, and the description says upgrading to 0.8.3 addresses the issue. The patch is the upstream commit 6ed8e3cc336e29f09c7e791863d0559939da98bf.
The weakness is CWE-78, improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command. The record says the attack can be started remotely, that the manipulated argument is cmd, and that an exploit has been disclosed publicly.
The sources differ on severity. The description, which comes from the VulDB listing, calls the issue critical. NVD's own CVSS 3.1 score is 5.6 (Medium), with the vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L. The high attack complexity in that vector is the main reason the score is lower, and the description itself says exploitability is told to be difficult. Both ratings are published, and the practical answer is the same for either: upgrade.
How to check if you're exposed
Find where Xcomic is installed, then identify the version. If you installed from a git clone, this shows the nearest tag:
git -C /path/to/xcomic describe --tags
If you installed from a download, compare the files with the v0.8.3 release page. Any version earlier than 0.8.3 should be treated as affected. If you cannot tell what version you run, treat it as affected.
The release page carries a note worth reading: the maintainer says the v0.8.3 tag currently points to master instead of the correct point of the old history. So check that the fix commit above is in the code you deploy, not just the tag name.
What to do now
- List every site or server that runs Xcomic and its version.
- Upgrade to 0.8.3, and confirm commit 6ed8e3cc336e29f09c7e791863d0559939da98bf is present.
- If you cannot upgrade soon, take the installation offline or restrict who can reach it at the web server.
- Run the web server and the application under an account with the fewest permissions possible, so a command injection can do less.
- Review web server logs for unexpected requests to the application that include a cmd parameter, and treat any unexplained one as a possible incident.
Why it matters
Command injection happens when an application builds an operating system command from text it received and does not neutralize the characters the shell treats as special. The shell then runs more than the developer intended. It is one of the oldest web weaknesses and one of the most damaging, because the commands run with the privileges of the web application.
The score here is moderate because exploitation is described as difficult. Still, a public exploit has been disclosed, and small hobby projects like this are often left unpatched for years. The record was published in October 2024. This CVE is not on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list, and nothing I read says it was exploited in the wild.
Safeguard's free in-browser dependency scan at gold.safeguard.sh/scan lists the open source packages in a project and flags known vulnerabilities, which helps when you are not sure what a codebase pulls in.
Try it yourself
Click through it at your own pace, or open it full screen.
Quick check
Which version of Xcomic fixes CVE-2005-10003?
Version 0.8.3. The NVD description says upgrading to 0.8.3 addresses the issue, and the fix is commit 6ed8e3cc336e29f09c7e791863d0559939da98bf.
Is CVE-2005-10003 critical or medium?
Both labels appear. The description calls it critical, and NVD scores it 5.6, which is medium. Upgrade either way.
Sources
- Gold entry for CVE-2005-10003
- Xcomic v0.8.3 release
- NVD record for CVE-2005-10003, which cites the patch commit 6ed8e3cc336e29f09c7e791863d0559939da98bf
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
