# CVE-2026-17473: IBM Documentation Offline is vulnerable to information disclosure, session forgery and remote code execution

> A remote attacker can read arbitrary files and potentially execute code via path traversal in IBM Documentation Offline.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 13 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 14 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-9ff3-3px5-257x

## What is CVE-2026-17473?

CVE-2026-17473 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in IBM Documentation Offline, published on 13 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

IBM Documentation Offline 1.0.0 through 1.4.1 could allow a remote attacker to read arbitrary files due to improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-17473?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Documentation Offline.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-17473?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-17473 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-17473 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-17473 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in IBM Documentation Offline

- [CVE-2026-17482](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17482/): IBM Documentation Offline is vulnerable to information disclosure, session forgery and remote code execution (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-17481](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17481/): IBM Documentation Offline is vulnerable to information disclosure, session forgery and remote code execution (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-17468](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17468/): IBM Documentation Offline is vulnerable to information disclosure, session forgery and remote code execution (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2026-16713](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-16713/): IBM Documentation Offline is vulnerable to information disclosure, session forgery and remote code execution (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-17473 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-17473 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in IBM Documentation Offline, published on 13 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-17473 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: IBM Documentation Offline. 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-2026-17473/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17473/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-17473
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-17473
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-17473

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-17473/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.