CVE-2026-24846

malcontent's archive extraction could write outside extraction directory

Published Jan 29, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
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.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-923j-vrcg-hxwh malcontent vulnerable to symlink Path Traversal via handleSymlink argument confusion in archive extraction
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Chainguard
Chainguard malcontent
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:chainguard:malcontent:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Chainguard
Chainguard malcontent
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Chainguard-dev
Chainguard-dev malcontent
Vendors & Products Chainguard-dev
Chainguard-dev malcontent
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title malcontent's archive extraction could write outside extraction directory
Weaknesses CWE-22
CWE-683
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
GitHub_M
Published
Updated
Jan 29, 2026, 9:37 PM
Reserved
Jan 27, 2026, 2:51 PM
Status
Analyzed
Published
Jan 29, 2026, 10:15 PM
Modified
Jun 17, 2026, 10:23 AM