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VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2026-24846: chainguard-dev malcontent · Path Traversal

Affects chainguard-dev malcontentSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.5 Medium : upgrade to 1.20.3 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
5.5Medium
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 8% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 1.20.3
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 29 Jan 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Upgrade malcontent and chainguard-dev/malcontent to 1.20.3.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
chainguard-devmalcontentAffected
  • >=1.8.0 <1.20.3
Fixed in
  • 1.20.3
GitHubchainguard-dev/malcontentpkg:github/chainguard-dev/malcontentOther threatsAffected
  • <1.20.3 >=1.8.0
Fixed in
  • 1.20.3

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately upgrade malcontent to version 1.20.3 or later, where the vulnerability is fixed. Until upgrading, restrict access to systems running vulnerable versions to trusted users only and avoid scanning untrusted or suspicious archives. Implement strict input validation and sandboxing around archive extraction processes to limit filesystem access. Employ monitoring to detect unusual symlink creation or file modifications outside expected directories. Incorporate user training to reduce the risk of opening malicious archives. For organizations using malcontent in automated CI/CD pipelines, ensure pipeline agents run with least privilege and isolated environments to contain potential exploitation. Regularly review supply chain security tools for updates and vulnerabilities to maintain a robust defense posture.

Description

malcontent discovers supply-chain compromises through.context, differential analysis, and YARA. Starting in version 1.8.0 and prior to version 1.20.3, malcontent could be made to create symlinks outside the intended extraction directory when scanning a specially crafted tar or deb archive. The `handleSymlink` function received arguments in the wrong order, causing the symlink target to be used as the symlink location. Additionally, symlink targets were not validated to ensure they resolved within the extraction directory. Version 1.20.3 introduces fixes that swap handleSymlink arguments, validate symlink location, and validate symlink targets that resolve within an extraction directory.

References

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