# CVE-2026-46388: osquery: Unprivileged users can temporarily read file carve contents

> Unprivileged users can read sensitive file carve contents due to insecure temporary directory permissions in osquery.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 10 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fg78-9q98-62hh

## What is CVE-2026-46388?

CVE-2026-46388 is a medium-severity vulnerability in osquery, published on 10 Jul 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

osquery is a SQL powered operating system instrumentation, monitoring, and analytics framework. Prior to 5.23.1, an unprivileged attacker can read the contents of an osquery file carve until the carve completes and the temporary files are deleted because in-progress carve directories are not created with private permissions. If the carve targets a directory that the attacker controls, arbitrary file reads are possible, such as sensitive local files. This issue is fixed in version 5.23.1.

Weakness: CWE-379 (Creation of Temporary File in Directory with Insecure Permissions), CWE-378 (Creation of Temporary File With Insecure Permissions), CWE-279 (Incorrect Execution-Assigned Permissions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-46388?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-46388?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-46388 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-46388 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46388 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-46388 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-46388 is a medium-severity vulnerability in osquery, published on 10 Jul 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: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-46388 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: osquery. 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-2026-46388/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46388/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-46388
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-46388
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-46388

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-46388/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.