CVE-2026-22860 Rack has a Directory Traversal via Rack:Directory
Attackers can escape the configured root directory to list files outside the intended scope via crafted requests in Rack::Directory.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-22860?
CVE-2026-22860 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in rack, published on 18 Feb 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Rack is a modular Ruby web server interface. Prior to versions 2.2.22, 3.1.20, and 3.2.5, `Rack::Directory`’s path check used a string prefix match on the expanded path. A request like `/../root_example/` can escape the configured root if the target path starts with the root string, allowing directory listing outside the intended root. Versions 2.2.22, 3.1.20, and 3.2.5 fix the issue.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-22860?
6 open source packages ship an affected version, including rack. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
rack RubyGems | All versions | 2.2.22 |
rack RubyGems | All versions | 2.2.22 |
rack RubyGems | From 3.0.0.beta1 | 3.1.20 |
rack RubyGems | From 3.0.0.beta1 | 3.1.20 |
rack RubyGems | From 3.2.0 | 3.2.5 |
rack RubyGems | From 3.2.0 | 3.2.5 |
Products include Rack Rack.
How do I fix CVE-2026-22860?
Upgrade rack to a fixed version for your release line: 2.2.22, 3.1.20 or 3.2.5.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-22860 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22860 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in rack
- CVE-2026-34785 Rack: Local file inclusion in `Rack::Static` via URL Prefix Matching
- CVE-2026-34827 Rack: Algorithmic-Complexity DoS in Rack::Multipart::Parser
- CVE-2026-34829 Rack: Denial of Service via Unbounded Multipart File Upload Without Content-Length
- CVE-2025-61919 Rack is vulnerable to a memory-exhaustion DoS through unbounded URL-encoded body parsing
- CVE-2025-61770 Rack's unbounded multipart preamble buffering enables DoS (memory exhaustion)
Sources
Also known as CLEANSTART-2026-QD34337, CLEANSTART-2026-UK95444, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-22860, GHSA-mxw3-3hh2-x2mh, MINI-26gr-3rwv-v76j, MINI-2q5h-m77j-qrf4 and 21 more.