CVE-2026-42448 | wormhole receive, with --output pointing at an existing directory can be path-traversed

Magic Wormhole makes it possible to get arbitrary-sized files and directories from one computer to another. Prior to 0.24.0, there is a path traversal when a receiver who specifies "--output <dir>" where that output directory currently exists (as a directory). This vulnerability is fixed in 0.24.0.

Published: 2026-05-26 Last update: 2026-05-26 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-42448 is rated Low Risk (18.5/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Mandatory action: Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-42448

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-27 0.04%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-42448

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.5 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.1 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-42448

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-42448

GHSA-cf92-gfcw-6v53 · Severity: low · Ecosystem: pip — Magic Wormhole: receive, with --output pointing at an existing directory can be path-traversed

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-42448

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-42448

cvelogic Threat Intelligence