Critical React Native Metro Vulnerability Exploited in 2025
In late 2025, a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-11953) was discovered in the Metro Development Server used by React Native. This flaw allowed unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands on developer systems via a POST request to the server's /open-url endpoint. The vulnerability affected versions 4.8.0 through 20.0.0-alpha.2 of the @react-native-community/cli-server-api package and was patched in version 20.0.0. Exploitation was observed in December 2025 and January 2026, with attackers delivering advanced payloads on both Windows and Linux platforms, leading to potential system compromise and data exfiltration. This incident underscores the critical importance of securing development environments and promptly applying patches to known vulnerabilities. The ease of exploitation and the widespread use of React Native in the development community highlight the need for vigilant security practices to prevent similar supply-chain attacks in the future.
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