# CVE-2026-78602: Path traversal in Elastic Maps Server

> An unauthenticated attacker can exploit a path traversal flaw in Elastic Maps Server to read arbitrary files from the server.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 2 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3435-h7j6-qq7r

## What is CVE-2026-78602?

CVE-2026-78602 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Elastic Maps Server, published on 2 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (CWE-22) in Elastic Maps Server can lead to information disclosure via Path Traversal (CAPEC-126). An unauthenticated attacker able to reach the service over the network could cause it to return the contents of files outside its intended content directory that are readable by the server process.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-78602?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Elastic Maps Server.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-78602?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-78602 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-78602 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-78602 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-78602 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-78602 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Elastic Maps Server, published on 2 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-78602 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Elastic Maps Server. 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-2026-78602/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78602/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-78602
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-78602
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-78602

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78602/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.