# CVE-2026-30853: calibre has a Path Traversal Leading to Arbitrary File Write

> An attacker can write arbitrary files to the system by tricking a user into opening a crafted RocketBook file in calibre.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L`)
- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 13 Mar 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-30853, GHSA-7mp7-rfrg-542x, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-30853

## What is CVE-2026-30853?

CVE-2026-30853 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in kovidgoyal calibre, published on 13 Mar 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

calibre is a cross-platform e-book manager for viewing, converting, editing, and cataloging e-books. Prior to 9.5.0, a path traversal vulnerability in the RocketBook (.rb) input plugin (src/calibre/ebooks/rb/reader.py) allows an attacker to write arbitrary files to any path writable by the calibre process when a user opens or converts a crafted .rb file. This is the same bug class fixed in CVE-2026-26065 for the PDB readers, but the fix was never applied to the RB reader. This vulnerability is fixed in 9.5.0.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-30853?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Calibre-Ebook Calibre.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-30853?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-30853 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-30853 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in kovidgoyal calibre

- [CVE-2011-4124](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4124/): Command injection in Calibre (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2011-4125](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4125/): Privilege escalation in Calibre (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-26064](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-26064/): calibre: Path Traversal Vulnerability Enables Arbitrary File Write and Remote Code Execution (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-26065](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-26065/): calibre: Path Traversal can Lead to Arbitrary File Write and Potential Code Execution (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2026-25635](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-25635/): calibre has a Path Traversal Leading to Arbitrary File Write and Potential Code Execution (high 8.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-30853 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-30853 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in kovidgoyal calibre, published on 13 Mar 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.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-30853 exists.

Affected product: kovidgoyal calibre. 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-2026-30853/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-30853/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-30853
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-30853
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-30853

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-30853/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.