# CVE-2026-7179: OSPG binwalk WinCE Extraction Plugin winceextract.py read_null_terminated_string path traversal

> Local attackers can exploit path traversal in binwalk's WinCE plugin to read or modify files, requiring migration to binwalk v3 as the project is EOL.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 29 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-7179, GHSA-4q2j-jrvf-pc8h, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-7179

## What is CVE-2026-7179?

CVE-2026-7179 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in OSPG binwalk, published on 27 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A security vulnerability has been detected in OSPG binwalk up to 2.4.3. This vulnerability affects the function read_null_terminated_string of the file src/binwalk/plugins/winceextract.py of the component WinCE Extraction Plugin. Such manipulation of the argument self.file_name leads to path traversal. The attack can only be performed from a local environment. The exploit has been disclosed publicly and may be used. The project maintainer confirms this issue: "I accept the existence of the Path Traversal vulnerability. However, as stated in the Github link, it reached EOL and as a result no actions should be expected." The GitHub repository mentions, that "[u]sers and contributors should migrate to binwalk v3." This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-7179?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-7179?

Product is end of life, replace it.

## Is CVE-2026-7179 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-7179 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-7179 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-7179 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in OSPG binwalk, published on 27 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-7179 exists.

Affected product: OSPG binwalk. 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-2026-7179/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-7179/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-7179
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-7179
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-7179

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-7179/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.