CVE-2026-24131 pnpm has Path Traversal via arbitrary file permission modification
A malicious npm package can exploit path traversal in pnpm to modify file permissions outside the package directory, potentially leading to privilege escalation.
- 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-2026-24131?
CVE-2026-24131 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 processes a package's `directories.bin` field, it uses `path.join()` without validating the result stays within the package root. A malicious npm package can specify `"directories": {"bin": "../../../../tmp"}` to escape the package directory, causing pnpm to chmod 755 files at arbitrary locations. This issue only affects Unix/Linux/macOS. Windows is not affected (`fixBin` gated by `EXECUTABLE_SHEBANG_SUPPORTED`). Version 10.28.2 contains a patch.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-24131?
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-2026-24131?
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-2026-24131 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-24131 in the wild and no public exploit code.
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-v253-rj99-jwpq, MINI-vrcv-2x2r-858f.