CVE-2026-58203VulnerabilityPublished 13 Aug 2026Updated 31 Oct 2026

semgrep · pydantic-settings: NestedSecretsSettingsSource follows symlinks outside secrets_dir, enabling local file read and

Affects semgrepSource GCVE Database

Compare

Authoritative record:CVE-2026-58203· Medium 5.3

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 1.168.0 when convenient.

Data as of 31 Oct 2026, 16:22 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

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

Patch: Available – fixed in 1.168.0

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Jul 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 30 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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), 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 semgrep to 1.168.0.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Homebrewsemgrep`pkg:brew/semgrep`Other threats	Affected >=1.143.0 <1.168.0	Fixed in 1.168.0

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

AI-suggested

Upgrade to pydantic-settings version 1.168.0 or later, which fixes the issue by restricting directory traversal to paths within the configured secrets_dir and using a consistent, cycle-safe iterator for size checking and loading. If upgrading is not immediately possible, ensure that the configured secrets_dir is fully controlled and not writable by untrusted users or components, or disable the secrets_nested_subdir option to avoid following symlinks.

Description

The pydantic-settings library's NestedSecretsSettingsSource component improperly follows symbolic links inside a configured secrets directory that point outside this directory, allowing local files outside the intended secrets directory to be read into application settings. This behavior also bypasses the configured maximum size limit for secrets loading, potentially leading to excessive resource consumption. The vulnerability requires the ability to place symlinks inside the secrets directory and is not remotely exploitable on its own. It affects versions from 1.143.0 up to but not including 1.168.0. A fix is available in version 1.168.0.

Impact

An attacker or lower-privileged component able to place symbolic links inside the configured secrets directory can cause the application to read files outside the intended secrets directory into settings values, violating confidentiality. Additionally, the size limit on secrets loading can be bypassed, potentially causing increased resource usage or denial of service. The vulnerability does not enable remote exploitation by itself and requires local or privileged access to influence the secrets directory contents.

Summary

NestedSecretsSettingsSource in pydantic-settings reads secret values from files in a configured secrets_dir. When secrets_nested_subdir is enabled, symlinked directories inside secrets_dir that point outside are followed and their contents loaded, bypassing the secrets_dir_max_size protection. This occurs because the size check uses Path.glob which does not follow symlinks, while the loader uses glob.iglob which does, causing inconsistent directory traversal. This leads to two issues: unintended local file reads outside the secrets_dir and bypass of the size limit. The vulnerability requires the ability to place symlinks inside the secrets directory and is not remotely exploitable. The issue is fixed in pydantic-settings 1.168.0 by enforcing that only paths within secrets_dir are followed and using a consistent, cycle-safe iterator for size checking and loading.

References

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 31 Oct 2026, 16:22 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats