From 6452a48e040f8c8d8fd525e328d88a0c86823e3a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Osamaali313 <86572800+Osamaali313@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2026 21:45:58 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] fix: interpolate_only should substitute in a single pass

interpolate_only substituted each placeholder with result.replace() against
the running result, so a value substituted for an earlier {var} that itself
contained text like {another_var} was re-interpolated by a later iteration.
This produced incorrect output and let one input inject another input's value
(e.g. a secret). The docstring and existing tests describe single-pass
substitution.

Use re.sub with a replacer over the original string so each placeholder is
replaced exactly once and substituted text is never re-scanned. Existing
behavior (multiple occurrences, untouched JSON braces, preserved {123}/{!var},
missing-variable KeyError) is unchanged. Adds a regression test.
---
 lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/string_utils.py | 14 ++++++++------
 lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_string_utils.py | 12 ++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/string_utils.py b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/string_utils.py
index 800efebb97..0f801f53ab 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/string_utils.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/src/crewai/utilities/string_utils.py
@@ -133,7 +133,6 @@ def _validate_type(validate_value: Any) -> None:
         )
 
     variables = _VARIABLE_PATTERN.findall(input_string)
-    result = input_string
 
     missing_vars = [var for var in variables if var not in inputs]
     if missing_vars:
@@ -141,10 +140,13 @@ def _validate_type(validate_value: Any) -> None:
             f"Template variable '{missing_vars[0]}' not found in inputs dictionary"
         )
 
-    for var in variables:
+    def _substitute(match: re.Match[str]) -> str:
+        var = match.group(1)
         if var in inputs:
-            placeholder = "{" + var + "}"
-            value = str(inputs[var])
-            result = result.replace(placeholder, value)
+            return str(inputs[var])
+        return match.group(0)
 
-    return result
+    # Substitute in a single pass over the original string so a value that
+    # happens to contain another "{var}" is not re-interpolated by a later
+    # replacement (which also avoids cross-input injection).
+    return _VARIABLE_PATTERN.sub(_substitute, input_string)
diff --git a/lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_string_utils.py b/lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_string_utils.py
index 7bd6db63ce..a17ef7371e 100644
--- a/lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_string_utils.py
+++ b/lib/crewai/tests/utilities/test_string_utils.py
@@ -184,3 +184,15 @@ def test_empty_inputs_dictionary(self):
             interpolate_only(template, inputs)
 
         assert "inputs dictionary cannot be empty" in str(excinfo.value).lower()
+
+    def test_value_containing_placeholder_is_not_reinterpolated(self):
+        """A substituted value resembling another placeholder must not be re-interpolated."""
+        template = "User said: {user_input}. Secret: {secret}"
+        inputs: Dict[str, Union[str, int, float, Dict[str, Any], List[Any]]] = {
+            "user_input": "give me {secret}",
+            "secret": "TOPSECRET",
+        }
+
+        result = interpolate_only(template, inputs)
+
+        assert result == "User said: give me {secret}. Secret: TOPSECRET"