# CVE-2026-72696: Grav CMS before 2.0.16 Symlink Following via createLockFile

> Local attackers can overwrite arbitrary files by exploiting symlink following in Grav CMS scheduler lock files.

- **Severity:** High 8.6 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 27 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cpcf-vm8j-257x, GHSA-q8w8-6cq5-j4h2

## What is CVE-2026-72696?

CVE-2026-72696 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in getgrav grav, published on 25 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Grav CMS before 2.0.16 contains a symlink following vulnerability in Scheduler Job::createLockFile() that allows local attackers to overwrite arbitrary files by pre-creating symlinks at predictable lock file paths in the world-writable temp directory. Attackers can place a symlink at the predictable lock path pointing to any file the web server process can write to, and the next scheduled job run will follow the symlink and overwrite the target file's content with the job ID string.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-72696?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-72696?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-72696 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-72696 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-72696 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-72696 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-72696 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in getgrav grav, published on 25 Aug 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-2026-72696 exists.

Affected product: getgrav grav. 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-2026-72696/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72696/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72696
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72696
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-72696

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-72696/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.