Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-22871

Path Traversal in Datadoghq Guarddog ≤ 2.7.1

Published
13 January 2026
Modified
21 January 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/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 0.0099 60th percentile
Risk Priority 55 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-2026-22871 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Datadoghq Guarddog. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 40% 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.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-22871 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in the safe_extract() function of GuardDog, a CLI tool designed to identify malicious PyPI packages. Versions of GuardDog prior to 2.7.1 are affected, allowing malicious PyPI packages to write arbitrary files outside the intended extraction directory during analysis. This flaw enables arbitrary file overwrite and remote code execution on systems running the vulnerable GuardDog instance, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

The vulnerability can be exploited remotely by any unauthenticated attacker with network access to a system running vulnerable GuardDog. By crafting a malicious PyPI package that triggers the path traversal in safe_extract(), the attacker can overwrite critical files or execute arbitrary code on the target system when GuardDog scans the package. No user interaction or privileges are required, making it highly exploitable in environments where GuardDog is used for automated PyPI package scanning.

The GuardDog security advisory (GHSA-xg9w-vg3g-6m68) and the fixing commit (9aa6a725b2c71d537d3c18d1c15621395ebb879c) confirm that the issue is resolved in version 2.7.1. Security practitioners should update to GuardDog 2.7.1 or later to mitigate the vulnerability.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

GuardDog is a CLI tool to identify malicious PyPI packages. Prior to 2.7.1, there is a path traversal vulnerability exists in GuardDog's safe_extract() function that allows malicious PyPI packages to write arbitrary files outside the intended extraction directory, leading to…

more

Arbitrary File Overwrite and Remote Code Execution on systems running GuardDog. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.7.1.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

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Affected Assets

datadoghq
guarddog
≤ 2.7.1

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

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-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