Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-23535 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Weblate Wlc. Its CVSS base score is 8.0 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 26th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); 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-2026-23535 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in wlc, the command-line client for Weblate that interacts with its REST API. Versions prior to 1.17.2 are affected, where the multi-translation download feature can be tricked into writing files to arbitrary locations on the local filesystem when processing responses from a crafted server. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.0 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to potential for complete confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts with a changed scope.
An attacker can exploit this by controlling a malicious Weblate server to which a victim authenticates with low privileges (PR:L) and initiates a multi-translation download. This requires network access (AV:N), high attack complexity (AC:H), and user interaction (UI:R), such as running the wlc command. Successful exploitation allows arbitrary file writes on the victim's local system, potentially leading to full compromise through overwrite of critical files, execution of malicious code, or data exfiltration.
The vulnerability is fixed in wlc version 1.17.2, as detailed in the project's security advisory (GHSA-mmwx-79f6-67jg), release notes, associated pull request, and commit. Security practitioners should advise users to upgrade immediately to the patched version to mitigate risks.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-2864
Vulnerability Data
wlc is a Weblate command-line client using Weblate's REST API. Prior to 1.17.2, the multi-translation download could write to an arbitrary location when instructed by a crafted server. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.2.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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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.
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 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.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.