no-child-process-exec

Disallow child_process.exec() and child_process.execSync() shell-backed execution APIs.

Targeted pattern scope

This rule targets exec() and execSync() when they are imported from child_process or node:child_process, destructured from require(...), or called through a namespace binding created from those modules.

What this rule reports

This rule reports direct use of child_process.exec() and child_process.execSync() because both APIs execute a command string through a shell.

Why this rule exists

Shell-backed command execution is harder to review safely than argv-separated process launches. When user-controlled data is concatenated into a command string, it can become command injection.

For SDL-oriented code review, spawn() and execFile() are generally easier to reason about because they keep the executable path and the arguments separate.

❌ Incorrect

import { exec } from "node:child_process";

exec(`git show ${userSuppliedRef}`);

const { execSync } = require("child_process");

execSync("tar -xf " + archivePath);

import * as childProcess from "node:child_process";

childProcess.exec("convert " + inputPath);

✅ Correct

import { execFile } from "node:child_process";

execFile("git", ["show", userSuppliedRef]);

const { spawn } = require("child_process");

spawn("tar", ["-xf", archivePath], { shell: false });

Behavior and migration notes

This rule intentionally focuses on direct child_process bindings and does not attempt to reason about custom wrapper utilities that may call exec() internally.

ESLint flat config example

import sdl from "eslint-plugin-sdl-2";

export default [
 {
  plugins: { sdl },
  rules: {
   "sdl/no-child-process-exec": "error",
  },
 },
];

When not to use it

If your project intentionally permits shell-backed command execution and you already review all command construction paths carefully, this rule may be too strict.

Package documentation

Rule source

Targeted pattern scope​

What this rule reports​

Why this rule exists​

❌ Incorrect​

✅ Correct​

Behavior and migration notes​

ESLint flat config example​

When not to use it​

Package documentation​

Further reading​