# CVE-2026-14361: Consul-template is vulnerable to path redirection in writeToFile through symlink attack

> Attackers can exploit symlink attacks to write template output outside intended directories or overwrite existing files.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 8 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xcm7-pmg9-8wjq

## What is CVE-2026-14361?

CVE-2026-14361 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in HashiCorp Tooling, published on 8 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The consul-template library before version 0.42.1 is vulnerable to a path redirection issue in the writeToFile template helper that may allow template output to be written outside the intended directory or to overwrite an existing file. This vulnerability (CVE-2026-14361) is fixed in consul-template 0.42.1.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-14361?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-14361?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-14361 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-14361 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-14361 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Consul Template's writeToFile helper opened an operator-supplied destination directly and followed linked path components, allowing rendered output to escape the intended directory and overwrite a preexisting file. (github_poc): https://github.com/0xmrma/CVE-2026-14361

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-14361 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-14361 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in HashiCorp Tooling, published on 8 Jul 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-14361 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: HashiCorp Tooling. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14361/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14361/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-14361
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-14361
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-14361

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14361/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.