CVE-2026-8170 ExtremeXOS Privilege Escalation via Symlink Following in File Utilities
Low-privilege attackers can exploit symlink handling in file utilities to escalate privileges to root and modify system files on ExtremeXOS switches.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-8170?
CVE-2026-8170 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Extreme Networks Switch Engine (EXOS), published on 20 Jul 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The mv, cp, and rm file utilities exposed within the ExtremeXOS (EXOS) shell environment fail to safely canonicalize paths and follow symbolic links outside of the intended privilege boundary. An attacker with low-privilege CLI access can create a symbolic link that references a privileged filesystem location and then invoke the affected utilities to read, modify, or replace security-critical files outside of their authorized scope. Under certain conditions, this may enable escalation to root-level access and persistent modification of the device software stack. Exploitation is possible remotely by an attacker holding a low-privilege account, or locally via the serial console.
Extreme would like to thank Hadrien Barral (Université Gustave Eiffel) and Georges-Axel Jaloyan (French Ministry of the Interior) for responsible disclosure of their findings.
Weakness: CWE-59
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-8170?
How do I fix CVE-2026-8170?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-8170 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-8170 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-8170 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-x4hp-453h-hp48.