# CVE-2026-23889: pnpm has Windows-specific tarball Path Traversal

> Malicious packages can overwrite files outside the directory on Windows via path traversal, potentially leading to code execution or configuration tampering.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 27 Jan 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6x96-7vc8-cm3p, MINI-2v89-hqqx-p9r4

## What is CVE-2026-23889?

CVE-2026-23889 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in pnpm, published on 26 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

pnpm is a package manager. Prior to version 10.28.1, a path traversal vulnerability in pnpm's tarball extraction allows malicious packages to write files outside the package directory on Windows. The path normalization only checks for `./` but not `.\`. On Windows, backslashes are directory separators, enabling path traversal. This vulnerability is Windows-only. This issue impacts Windows pnpm users and Windows CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions Windows runners, Azure DevOps). It can lead to overwriting `.npmrc`, build configs, or other files. Version 10.28.1 contains a patch.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-23889?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including pnpm. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pnpm` | npm | All versions | 10.28.1 |
| `pnpm` | npm | All versions | 10.28.1 |

Products: Pnpm Pnpm.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-23889?

Upgrade pnpm to 10.28.1 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-23889 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-23889 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in pnpm

- [CVE-2026-50016](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-50016/): pnpm: Transitive dependency alias path traversal allows project path override via symlink replacement (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-55698](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-55698/): pnpm: Project env lockfile can short-circuit package-manager resolution and execute lockfile-selected pnpm bytes (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-69264](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-69264/): pnpm v10+ Bypass "Dependency lifecycle scripts execution disabled by default" (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-26183](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-26183/): Untrusted Search Path in PNPM (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-59195](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-59195/): pnpm: Path traversal in configDependencies env lockfile allows symlink creation outside node_modules/.pnpm-config (high 8.2)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-23889 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-23889 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in pnpm, published on 26 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-23889 exists.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- pnpm (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 10.28.1
- pnpm (npm): affected all versions; fixed in 10.28.1

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-2026-23889/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23889/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-23889
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23889
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-23889

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-23889/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.