CVE-2026-92205

Description

A flaw was found in BusyBox. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to create arbitrary files in unintended locations with the permissions of the target user. This issue occurs because the archive handling component fails to properly validate user-supplied file paths, allowing directory traversal through symbolic links when a user is tricked into processing a malicious archive.

Statement

A directory traversal vulnerability exists in the libarchive component of BusyBox. If a user is tricked into processing a specially crafted archive, an attacker can leverage symbolic links to bypass path validation and create arbitrary files outside the intended extraction directory with the privileges of the executing user.

Mitigation

Avoid extracting untrusted archives using BusyBox's built-in extraction utilities. If archive extraction is strictly necessary, utilize fully featured alternatives like GNU tar within a restricted privilege environment.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score6.1N/A6.1
Attack VectorLocalN/ALocal
Attack ComplexityLowN/ALow
Privileges RequiredNoneN/ANone
User InteractionRequiredN/ARequired
ScopeUnchangedN/AUnchanged
ConfidentialityNoneN/ANone
Integrity ImpactHighN/AHigh
Availability ImpactLowN/ALow

Vector

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

cve.org: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Confidentiality,Integrity,Access Control

Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories; Modify Files or Directories; Bypass Protection Mechanism

An attacker may be able to traverse the file system to unintended locations and read or overwrite the contents of unexpected files. If the files are used for a security mechanism then an attacker may be able to bypass the mechanism.

Other

Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Windows simple shortcuts, sometimes referred to as soft links, can be exploited remotely since a ".LNK" file can be uploaded like a normal file. This can enable remote execution.

Frequently Asked Questions

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