VulnerabilityPublished 14 Jul 2026

CVE-2026-53486: Decompress · Archive extraction can create files and links outside of the target directory

Affects @xhmikosr/decompressSource GCVE Database

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.1 Critical : upgrade to 11.1.3 as a priority.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.1Critical

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

EPSS: 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 54% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 11.1.3

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, 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: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 14 Jul 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 @xhmikosr/decompress to 11.1.3.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
npm@xhmikosr/decompress	Affected >=11.0.0 <11.1.3	Fixed in 11.1.3
npmdecompress	Affected <=4.2.1	Fixed in–

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

AI-suggested

Red Hat has released updated RPM packages for dotnet8.0 components that fix this vulnerability. Users should apply these updates as provided by Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs. Since the original decompress package is unmaintained and no upstream fix exists, Red Hat components do not use the maintained fork with the fix. As a mitigation, only extract archives from trusted sources, run extraction as a non-root user to prevent privileged file creation, and verify that symlinks or hardlinks created during extraction resolve within the intended output directory.

Description

This update includes the following RPMs: dotnet8.0: * aspnetcore-runtime-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * aspnetcore-runtime-dbg-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * aspnetcore-targeting-pack-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-apphost-pack-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-hostfxr-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-runtime-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-runtime-dbg-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-sdk-8.0-8.0.128-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-sdk-8.0-source-built-artifacts-8.0.128-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-sdk-dbg-8.0-8.0.128-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-targeting-pack-8.0-8.0.28-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet-templates-8.0-8.0.128-1.2.hum1 (aarch64, x86_64) * dotnet8.0-8.0.128-1.2.hum1.src (src) Security Fix(es): dotnet8.0: * CVE-2026-53486

Impact

The vulnerability allows an attacker who can supply a crafted archive to cause extraction processes to create or overwrite files and links outside the intended directory. This can lead to unauthorized reading or writing of files, potentially exposing sensitive data or modifying critical files. The impact affects confidentiality and integrity but not availability. Because extraction is performed on locally supplied or build-time archives rather than arbitrary network input, exploitation requires user interaction. The vulnerability could allow bypassing security mechanisms if critical files are overwritten or read.

Summary

CVE-2026-53486 is a vulnerability in the decompress npm package version 4.2.1 or earlier, used in Red Hat Hardened Images (dotnet8.0) and other Red Hat components. The flaw arises from insufficient path containment checks and improper handling of hardlink and symlink entries during archive extraction, allowing crafted archives to write or read files outside the intended directory. This can lead to unauthorized file access or modification, affecting confidentiality and integrity. Red Hat rates this issue as Important with a CVSS score of 8.1, reflecting that extraction is performed on locally supplied archives requiring user interaction. The original decompress package is unmaintained and has no upstream fix; the maintained fork @xhmikosr/decompress has fixes in versions 10.2.1 and 11.1.3 but is not used by Red Hat components. Red Hat has released updated RPMs for dotnet8.0 packages to address this vulnerability.

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #6OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-606Unchecked Input for Loop Condition (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product does not properly check inputs that are used for loop conditions, potentially leading to a denial of service or other consequences because of excessive looping.
Implementation
Do not use user-controlled data for loop conditions.
Implementation
Perform input validation.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 16 Aug 2026, 15:40 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-22, CWE-606

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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