CVE-2026-24056 pnpm has symlink traversal in file:/git dependencies
Attackers can leak local sensitive files by installing malicious file or git dependencies containing symlinks, affecting developers and CI/CD pipelines.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-24056?
CVE-2026-24056 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in pnpm, published on 26 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
pnpm is a package manager. Prior to version 10.28.2, when pnpm installs a `file:` (directory) or `git:` dependency, it follows symlinks and reads their target contents without constraining them to the package root. A malicious package containing a symlink to an absolute path (e.g., `/etc/passwd`, `~/.ssh/id_rsa`) causes pnpm to copy that file's contents into `node_modules`, leaking local data. The vulnerability only affects `file:` and `git:` dependencies. Registry packages (npm) have symlinks stripped during publish and are NOT affected. The issue impacts developers installing local/file dependencies andCI/CD pipelines installing git dependencies. It can lead to credential theft via symlinks to `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.npmrc`, `~/.ssh/id_rsa`. Version 10.28.2 contains a patch.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-24056?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including pnpm. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
pnpm npm | All versions | 10.28.2 |
pnpm npm | All versions | 10.28.2 |
Products include Pnpm Pnpm.
How do I fix CVE-2026-24056?
Upgrade pnpm to 10.28.2 or later.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-24056 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-24056 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in pnpm
- CVE-2026-50016 pnpm: Transitive dependency alias path traversal allows project path override via symlink replacement
- CVE-2026-55698 pnpm: Project env lockfile can short-circuit package-manager resolution and execute lockfile-selected pnpm bytes
- CVE-2025-69264 pnpm v10+ Bypass "Dependency lifecycle scripts execution disabled by default"
- CVE-2022-26183 Untrusted Search Path in PNPM
- CVE-2026-59195 pnpm: Path traversal in configDependencies env lockfile allows symlink creation outside node_modules/.pnpm-config
Sources
Also known as GHSA-m733-5w8f-5ggw, MINI-658w-5hm9-65qp.