CVE-2026-54250 K3s: ZIP Archive Path Traversal Vulnerability in etcd Snapshot Decompression
Attackers can write arbitrary files via malicious ZIP archives during etcd snapshot restoration, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-54250?
CVE-2026-54250 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in k3s-io k3s, published on 25 Jun 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
K3s is a fully conformant production-ready Kubernetes distribution. Prior to 1.35.3+k3s1, 1.34.6+k3s1, v1.33.10+k3s1, a path traversal vulnerability exists in K3s's etcd snapshot decompression functionality. Zip files containing archive members with maliciously crafted names can be written to arbitrary locations on the filesystem when an administrator restores the archive as a compressed etcd snapshot. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.35.3+k3s1, 1.34.6+k3s1, v1.33.10+k3s1.
Weakness: CWE-22
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-54250?
7 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/k3s-io/k3s.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
github.com/k3s-io/k3s Go | All versions | None |
github.com/k3s-io/k3s Go | All versions | 1.33.10 |
github.com/k3s-io/k3s Go | All versions | 1.33.10 |
github.com/k3s-io/k3s Go | From 1.34.0-rc1 | 1.34.6 |
github.com/k3s-io/k3s Go | From 1.34.0-rc1 | 1.34.6 |
github.com/k3s-io/k3s Go | From 1.35.0-rc1 | 1.35.3 |
1 more packages
github.com/k3s-io/k3s Go | From 1.35.0-rc1 | 1.35.3 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-54250?
Upgrade github.com/k3s-io/k3s to a fixed version for your release line: 1.33.10, 1.34.6 or 1.35.3.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-54250 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54250 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-jxr7-mqhw-9p98, GO-2026-5973, MINI-868x-rfvr-c269, MINI-mpv5-grwp-9wmj.