Risk briefing
This downloads and runs remote code.
This fetches something from the network and immediately executes it. You never see the script first, and a swapped file on that server becomes code running as you.
Command
curl -fsSL https://get.example.com/install.sh | bash
Rendered on the server from the query string — works without client JavaScript.
Findings
- CRITICAL
Download piped straight into a shell
rceThis fetches something from the network and immediately executes it. You never see the script first, and a swapped file on that server becomes code running as you.
curl -fsSL https://get.example.com/install.sh | bash
What this touches
- network/get.example.com
- process/shell interpreter
- network/get.example.com
Safer alternatives
Download, read, then run
curl -fsSL <url> -o install.sh && less install.sh && sh install.sh
Save the script, read it, check the host, then run only if you still trust it. Prefer a pinned checksum when the vendor publishes one.
Read it as if a stranger sent it
AI chat will cheerily suggest pipe-to-shell installs. If you would not run this from an unknown Slack DM, do not run it from a model either.