Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-11940

Path Traversal

Published
23 June 2026
Modified
13 August 2026
CVSS Score v4 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0075 52th percentile
Risk Priority 44 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-11940 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Python (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked in the top 48% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

tarfile.extractall() with the 'data' or 'tar' filter could be bypassed by a crafted archive where a hardlink references a symlink stored at a deeper name than the hardlink itself. The extraction fallback validated the symlink at it's archived location but…

more

recreated it at the hardlink's shallower path, letting a relative target the filter judged contained escape the destination directory. This allowed a malicious tar archive to create a symlink pointing outside the destination, enabling out-of-destination file reads or writes. This was an incomplete fix of CVE-2025-4330.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1547.009 Shortcut Modification Persistence
Adversaries may create or modify shortcuts that can execute a program during system boot or user login.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-24056Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-44340Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2024-12905Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-33748Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2022-30333Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-34603Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-34604Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2022-21999Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-6941Shared CWE-22, CWE-59
CVE-2026-32020Shared CWE-22, CWE-59

Affected Assets

Python
—
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2
  • V15.4.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.

Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.

Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References