CVE-2026-96612 Path traversal in Hex via unvalidated dependency app names
A malicious package publisher can delete arbitrary directories and write files outside the project dependencies folder during dependency fetching.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-96612?
CVE-2026-96612 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in hexpm hex, published on 12 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in hexpm hex allows a malicious package publisher to delete a directory outside the project's deps directory and extract package files into it when a developer fetches dependencies.
A package release's requirements carry an app label that names the dependency's OTP application. Hex takes this label from the repository's signed registry and uses it as the dependency's application name without validating it (Hex.RemoteConverger.deps/2, Hex.Mix.to_lock/1). Mix derives the dependency's checkout directory as deps/<app>, and Hex.SCM.update/1 runs File.rm_rf!/1 on that directory and unpacks the package into it. hex.pm only checks the label's length, so a publisher can set it to a value such as ../../target. When a project depends on such a release directly or transitively, mix deps.get or mix deps.update deletes the directory the label resolves to and writes the labelled package's files there. This happens before any dependency code is compiled.
This issue affects hex: from 0.6.0 before 2.5.2.
Weakness: CWE-22
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-96612?
How do I fix CVE-2026-96612?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-96612 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-96612 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-96612, EEF-CVE-2026-96612, GHSA-2vjj-c5hr-6xc3, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-96612.