VulnerabilityPublished 19 Jan 2026Updated 20 Jan 2026

CVE-2026-23838: NixOS nixpkgs · Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory

Affects NixOS nixpkgsSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.7 High : upgrade to 26.05 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

8.7High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 43% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 26.05

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all information within the Vulnerable System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 19 Jan 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade NixOS nixpkgs to 26.05.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
NixOSnixpkgs	Affected >=23.05 <26.05	Fixed in 26.05

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately audit their Tandoor Recipes installations on NixOS to determine if they are running affected versions (>=23.05 and <26.05) with default MEDIA_ROOT configurations. The primary mitigation is to move MEDIA_ROOT into a dedicated subdirectory within /var/lib/tandoor-recipes or another non-web-accessible location to separate media files from the database file. This prevents direct HTTP access to db.sqlite3. Alternatively, migrating from SQLite to PostgreSQL or another database backend that does not store data in a web-accessible directory is recommended for enhanced security. Web server configurations (e.g., nginx) should be reviewed and updated to explicitly deny access to the database file (db.sqlite3) by adding location blocks or access control rules. For deployments using Gunicorn with GUNICORN_MEDIA=1, disable this setting or ensure MEDIA_ROOT is not the same directory as the database. Organizations should upgrade to NixOS 26.05 or later, which changes the default MEDIA_ROOT to a safer subdirectory, but must verify that system.stateVersion is set accordingly to benefit from this fix. Regular backups and monitoring for unusual access patterns to media directories are advised. Finally, organizations should review their incident response plans to address potential data exposure and ensure compliance with GDPR notification requirements if a breach is suspected.

Description

Tandoor Recipes is a recipe manager than can be installed with the Nix package manager. Starting in version 23.05 and prior to version 26.05, when using the default configuration of Tandoor Recipes, specifically using SQLite and default `MEDIA_ROOT`, the full database file may be externally accessible, potentially on the Internet. The root cause is that the NixOS module configures the working directory of Tandoor Recipes, as well as the value of `MEDIA_ROOT`, to be `/var/lib/tandoor-recipes`. This causes Tandoor Recipes to create its `db.sqlite3` database file in the same directory as `MEDIA_ROOT` causing it to be accessible without authentication through HTTP like any other media file. This is the case when using `GUNICORN_MEDIA=1` or when using a web server like nginx to serve media files. NixOS 26.05 changes the default value of `MEDIA_ROOT` to a sub folder of the data directory. This only applies to configurations with `system.stateVersion` >= 26.05. For older configurations, one of the workarounds should be applied instead. NixOS 25.11 has received a backport of this patch, though it doesn't fix this vulnerability without user intervention. A recommended workaround is to move `MEDIA_ROOT` into a subdirectory. Non-recommended workarounds include switching to PostgreSQL or disallowing access to `db.sqlite3`.

Impact

For European organizations using Tandoor Recipes via NixOS nixpkgs versions 23.05 to 26.05 with default configurations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk of data exposure. The SQLite database may contain sensitive user information, including personal data and potentially authentication credentials, which if accessed by unauthorized parties, could lead to privacy violations, data breaches, and compliance issues under GDPR. The exposure of the entire database file without authentication means attackers can easily download and analyze the data, increasing the risk of identity theft, credential stuffing, or further targeted attacks. Organizations relying on default configurations and serving media files publicly without additional access controls are particularly vulnerable. The impact extends beyond confidentiality to potential reputational damage and regulatory penalties. Since the vulnerability is exploitable remotely without user interaction, it increases the attack surface for opportunistic attackers scanning for exposed database files. European entities in sectors such as hospitality, food services, or any domain using Tandoor Recipes for recipe management could be affected, especially if they have not updated to NixOS 26.05 or applied mitigations. The lack of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, as attackers may develop exploits given the public disclosure.

CWE-538Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information.
Architecture and Design · Operation · System Configuration
Do not expose file and directory information to the user.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Error Handling (opens in a new tab)
Logging (opens in a new tab)
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V14.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
V7.3.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
WSDL Scanning (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Jan 2026, 19:45 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-538

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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