HSEC-2026-0006 Cabal deletes project source files during configure
Cabal build tool deletes source header files during configuration, causing data loss and build failures for developers.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is HSEC-2026-0006?
HSEC-2026-0006 is a denial of service vulnerability in Cabal, published on 8 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Cabal deletes project source files during configure
The checkDuplicateHeaders function in Distribution.Simple.Configure removes
header files from the source directory when a header with the same name exists in
both the build directory and the source directory.
This behavior was introduced in commit 3a9830b to resolve header precedence
issues, as C compilers prefer relative includes over -I search paths. The
workaround uses removeFile on source directory files, which is destructive and
should not happen during a build process.
While the current implementation does not follow symlinks explicitly, the deletion of source files outside of the project during a build operation is possible on Microsoft Windows.
Which versions are affected by HSEC-2026-0006?
1 open source package ship an affected version, including Cabal.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Cabal Hackage | From 2.2 | None |
How do I fix HSEC-2026-0006?
No fix has been published for HSEC-2026-0006 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is HSEC-2026-0006 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of HSEC-2026-0006 in the wild and no public exploit code.