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CVE-2026-88069 – Arbitrary File Write via Path Traversal – Pandora (pandora-analysis) ≤ 1.12.7

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Summary

CVE-2026-88069 is a critical path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in Pandora, the open-source file analysis framework maintained by pandora-analysis. The flaw resides in Pandora’s archive/disk-image extraction worker, which fails to validate that extracted file paths stay within the intended extraction directory, allowing a submitted malicious file to write content to arbitrary locations on the host. The issue is rated Critical (CVSS 9.3) and is remotely exploitable without authentication or user interaction beyond submitting a file for analysis.

Technical details

  • Root cause: Pandora’s extraction worker (pandora/workers/extractor.py) uses attacker-controlled member/entry paths from submitted archives or disk images without resolving and validating that the resulting destination path remains inside the designated extraction directory.
  • Trigger conditions: An attacker submits a specially crafted archive or disk image (e.g., containing entries with ../ traversal sequences or absolute paths) to Pandora for analysis — a routine, unauthenticated or low-privilege workflow for a file-analysis sandbox.
  • Attack vector: Network — exploitation occurs through Pandora’s normal file-submission/analysis pipeline, requiring no prior authentication or complex conditions (low attack complexity).
  • Impact: Extracted file content can be written outside the intended extraction directory, potentially overwriting files accessible to the Pandora worker process. This can lead to unauthorized modification of application/system files, denial of service, and — depending on the privileges of the Pandora process and which files can be overwritten — further compromise of the host, including possible code execution.

Affected software

  • Pandora (pandora-analysis/pandora), all versions from the initial release through 1.12.7 (inclusive).

Severity

  • CVSS v4.0 Base Score: 9.3 (Critical)
  • Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:H/SA:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Update to a Pandora build that includes the fix committed on September 9, 2026 (commit d86ac5b260fb9a41e07f1da1bbd326cdcfc188a7, "backstop to catch path transversal attacks in extractor"). At the time of publication this fix had not yet been included in a numbered release (the latest tagged release, v1.12.7, predates the fix) — organizations running self-hosted Pandora instances should track the project’s repository/release page and upgrade to the first release that includes this commit as soon as it is published, or build from the patched main branch in the interim.
  • If no patch is yet available for your deployment:
    • Restrict and isolate the Pandora analysis environment (run extraction workers in a sandboxed/containerized environment with minimal filesystem privileges and no access to sensitive host paths).
    • Limit who can submit files for analysis, and avoid exposing the submission interface directly to untrusted networks.
    • Monitor Pandora worker logs for extraction errors or unexpected file-write locations that could indicate exploitation attempts.
    • Ensure the extraction directory and any directories writable by the Pandora worker process do not contain files whose modification could lead to broader compromise (e.g., application code, credentials, cron jobs, web-served content).

References

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