Summary
CVE-2026-12609 is an unauthenticated path traversal vulnerability in Eclipse Theia’s @theia/plugin-ext backend. A remote attacker can read arbitrary files accessible to the Theia backend process, resulting in a loss of confidentiality. It affects Eclipse Theia versions 1.66.0 through 1.73.1 and is rated HIGH (CVSS 7.5).
Technical details
- Root cause: The
/hostedPlugin/:pluginId/:path(*)endpoint resolves the requested file path without validating that it remains within the plugin directory (CWE-22, Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory). - Trigger conditions: An attacker sends percent-encoded traversal sequences (
%2e%2e%2f, decoding to../) in the path to escape the plugin directory. - Attack vector: Network-based and unauthenticated — no privileges and no user interaction are required.
- Impact: Retrieval of arbitrary files readable by the Theia backend process (high confidentiality impact; no integrity or availability impact).
Affected software
- Eclipse Theia versions 1.66.0 through 1.73.1 (inclusive).
Severity
- CVSS v3.1 base score: 7.5 (HIGH)
- Vector string:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Mitigation and recommended actions
- Immediate: Upgrade to Eclipse Theia 1.74.0 or later, which contains the fix.
- If no patch can be applied: Restrict network access to the Theia backend so the affected endpoint is not reachable by untrusted clients until the upgrade can be performed.

