high · 7.3 Patched

Dulwich: Symlink directory traversal in stash pop allows arbitrary file write via intermediate directory symlinks

CVE-2026-114098 · GHSA-mw9m-763w-f8m9 · EUVD-2026-106901 · GHSA-cm62-gvxx-vmxx · published 2 Oct 2026

How serious is it

  • Severity: high, CVSS score 7.3 out of 10.
  • No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
  • Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
  • No public exploit in Exploit-DB.

Is your app affected by CVE-2026-114098?

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Who is affected

  • dulwich (PyPI) >= 0.22.5, < 1.2.8

How to check

  1. Run pip show dulwich in your project to see the installed version, including copies pulled in by other packages.
  2. Or paste your lockfile into the checker: it lists every package with a known vulnerability, this one included.
  3. Or run npx shippable-dev scan localhost:3000 in your project folder. It reads your lockfile and flags this vulnerability along with every other known one.

How to fix

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  1. Upgrade dulwich to 1.2.8 or later, commit the lockfile and redeploy.
  2. If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.

The advisory

## Summary Dulwich's `stash.py:pop()` function is vulnerable to symlink directory traversal, allowing an attacker to write arbitrary files outside the repository worktree when a victim pops a stash in a malicious repository. ## Root Cause The `pop()` function at `dulwich/stash.py:236` uses `os.path.exists(parent_dir)` to check if a parent directory exists before writing stashed files. `os.path.exists()` follows symlinks, so when an intermediate directory in the path is a symlink pointing outside the worktree (e.g., `link → ../../.git/hooks`), the check passes and subsequent file writes resolve through the symlink. The `validate_path()` function (line 228) only validates path component names against `INVALID_DOTNAMES` — it performs zero filesystem symlink detection. On dulwich 1.2.7 (latest release), `build_file_from_blob()` has no symlink protection whatsoever. ## Impact An attacker can craft a malicious repository that, when a victim clones it and performs a stash pop operation, writes attacker-controlled content to arbitrary filesystem locations. Writing to `.git/hooks/post-checkout` achieves Remote Code Execution on the victim's machine on the next git checkout operation. ## Attack Scenario 1. Attacker creates a repository with branch `main` containing `link` (symlink → `../../.git/hooks`) and branch `feature` containing `link/post-checkout` (executable payload) 2. Victim clones the repository (landing on `main` — symlink `link` exists in worktree) 3. Victim checks out `feature`, makes changes, runs `stash.push()` 4. Victim checks out `main` (restoring the `link` symlink) 5. Victim runs `stash.pop(0)` — stash contains `link/post-checkout` 6. `os.path.exists("link")` returns True (symlink to existing directory), `os.makedirs` skipped 7. `build_file_from_blob(blob, mode, "link/post-checkout")` → `open("link/post-checkout", "wb")` follows the intermediate symlink → payload written to `.git/hooks/post-checkout` 8. Next checkout operation triggers the hook → RCE ## Suggested Fix Before writing any file, verify that no component of the target path resolves through a symlink outside the worktree. Use `os.path.realpath(parent_dir)` and confirm it stays within the repository root. Alternatively, use `os.open()` with `O_NOFOLLOW` on each path component. Reported by **zx (Jace)**

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References

Merged from OSV, ENISA EUVD. Last updated 28 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON