CVE-2026-45309 | AsyncSSH `AuthorizedKeysFile %u` path traversal allows attacker-selected authorized keys to authenticate a traversal username

AsyncSSH is a Python package which provides an asynchronous client and server implementation of the SSHv2 protocol on top of the Python asyncio framework. Prior to 2.23.0, AsyncSSH expands the OpenSSH-compatible AuthorizedKeysFile %u token in asyncssh/config.py, asyncssh/connection.py, asyncssh/auth_keys.py, and asyncssh/misc.py with the raw SSH username during pre-authentication server config reload, allowing a server configured with AuthorizedKeysFile authorized_keys/%u to read an authorized-keys file outside the intended directory when the SSH username contains /, \, or .. path traversal segments and authenticate with an attacker-selected key file. This issue is fixed in version 2.23.0.

Published: 2026-07-17 Last update: 2026-07-20 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Received，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-45309 is rated Moderate Risk (45.8/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.45%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2026-45309

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 2026-07-18 0.22% 0.45% +0.23%
2 2026-06-12 — 0.22% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-45309

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.2 4.0 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and stable.
Attack requirements (AT:P)
Additional preconditions must be present for exploitation.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:N)
No confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:H)
High integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N)
No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:N)
No confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:N)
No integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:N)
No availability impact on subsequent systems.
Exploit maturity (threat) (E:X)
Not defined: no reliable threat intelligence; scoring assumes the worst case (equivalent to Attacked).
Confidentiality requirement (CR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Integrity requirement (IR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Availability requirement (AR:X)
Not defined: insufficient information; scoring treats this like High (worst case).
Modified attack vector (MAV:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Vector (AV).
Modified attack complexity (MAC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Complexity (AC).
Modified attack requirements (MAT:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Attack Requirements (AT).
Modified privileges required (MPR:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base Privileges Required (PR).
Modified user interaction (MUI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base User Interaction (UI).
Modified vulnerable system confidentiality impact (MVC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VC metric.
Modified vulnerable system integrity impact (MVI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VI metric.
Modified vulnerable system availability impact (MVA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base VA metric.
Modified subsequent system confidentiality impact (MSC:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SC metric.
Modified subsequent system integrity impact (MSI:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SI metric.
Modified subsequent system availability impact (MSA:X)
Not defined: scoring uses the Base SA metric.
Safety (supplemental) (S:X)
Not evaluated.
Automatable (supplemental) (AU:X)
Not evaluated.
Recovery (supplemental) (R:X)
Not evaluated.
Value density (supplemental) (V:X)
Not evaluated.
Vulnerability response effort (supplemental) (RE:X)
Not evaluated.
Provider urgency (supplemental) (U:X)
Not evaluated.
 — — [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-45309

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-45309

GHSA-g794-3fmp-753h · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: pip — AsyncSSH `AuthorizedKeysFile %u` path traversal allows attacker-selected authorized keys to authenticate a traversal username

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-45309

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-45309 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (python-asyncssh), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 3, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-45309
suse medium CVE-2026-45309 severity moderate: SUSE including 3 source package names (python311-asyncssh-2.23.1-1.1, python313-asyncssh-2.23.1-1.1, python314-asyncssh-2.23.1-1.1), 3 product×package rows across 1 product lines (openSUSE Tumbleweed): Fixed 3. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-45309/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-45309 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (python-asyncssh), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, resolute, upstream): needs-triage 5, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-45309

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-45309

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-45309

cvelogic Threat Intelligence