[JENKINS-41339] Environment variables referencing other variables broken

This seems to have broken fairly recently. I have a global PATH environment variable defined in Jenkins as follows:

PATH: /path/to/toolchain/bin:$PATH

Freestyle jobs work with this. An older version of the durable task plugin also worked. After updating to the latest, this pipeline job:

```
node('master', {
echo 'env.PATH=' + env.PATH
sh('env')
})

```

results in this output:

```
[Pipeline] node
Running on master in /var/lib/jenkins/workspace/pipeline bug
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] echo
env.PATH=/path/to/toolchain/bin:$PATH
[Pipeline] sh
[pipeline bug] Running shell script
nohup: failed to run command ‘sh’: No such file or directory
[Pipeline] }
[Pipeline] // node
[Pipeline] End of Pipeline
ERROR: script returned exit code -2
Finished: FAILURE

```

---
Originally reported by jtatum, imported from: Environment variables referencing other variables broken

• status: Reopened
  
• priority: Major
  
• component(s): durable-task-plugin, workflow-durable-task-step-plugin
  
• label(s): blue-pipeline-scrub, regression, triaged-2018-11
  
• resolution: Unresolved
  
• votes: 27
  
• watchers: 51
  
• imported: 2025-12-09
  

This seems to have broken fairly recently. I have a global PATH environment variable defined in Jenkins as follows:


PATH: /path/to/toolchain/bin:$PATH


Freestyle jobs work with this. An older version of the durable task plugin also worked. After updating to the latest, this pipeline job:




node('master', {

    echo 'env.PATH=' + env.PATH

    sh('env')

   })





results in this output:




[Pipeline] node

Running on master in /var/lib/jenkins/workspace/pipeline bug

[Pipeline] {

[Pipeline] echo

env.PATH=/path/to/toolchain/bin:$PATH

[Pipeline] sh

[pipeline bug] Running shell script

nohup: failed to run command ‘sh’: No such file or directory

[Pipeline] }

[Pipeline] // node

[Pipeline] End of Pipeline

ERROR: script returned exit code -2

Finished: FAILURE

environment

```
Jenkins 2.41

Durable task plugin 1.13

Centos 6.5
```