CVE-2026-57441 MCPVault: PathFilter restricted-directory deny-list bypass via case and trailing dot/space equivalence
An attacker can bypass restricted directory filters in MCPVault to read or modify sensitive files on case-insensitive or Windows filesystems.
- 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-2026-57441?
CVE-2026-57441 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in bitbonsai mcpvault, published on 15 Sep 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
MCPVault is a lightweight Model Context Protocol server for safe access to files in an Obsidian vault. Prior to 0.11.4, PathFilter in src/pathfilter.ts compiles restricted-directory patterns case-sensitively and compares paths without canonicalizing filesystem-equivalent segment names. On case-insensitive macOS and Windows filesystems, case variants of .git, .obsidian, or node_modules pass both isAllowed() and isAllowedForListing() even though the operating system opens the restricted directory, and Windows trailing dots or spaces provide the same bypass. An attacker who influences a path selected by an AI agent can use the bypass in read, write, move, search, or listing operations to expose or modify sensitive repository and Obsidian metadata. Vault-root .. containment is not affected. This issue is fixed in version 0.11.4.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-57441?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including @bitbonsai/mcpvault.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
@bitbonsai/mcpvault npm | All versions | 0.11.4 |
@bitbonsai/mcpvault npm | All versions | 0.11.4 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-57441?
Upgrade @bitbonsai/mcpvault to 0.11.4 or later.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-57441 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-57441 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-j99q-93c9-h869.