Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2026-26985 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Mcgill Loris. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (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-2026-26985 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in LORIS, a self-hosted web application for data and project management in neuroimaging research. The issue affects versions starting from 24.0.0 up to but not including 26.0.5, 27.0.2, and 28.0.0. An authenticated user with appropriate authorization can exploit this flaw to read sensitive configuration files on the server, some of which contain hard-coded credentials. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).
Exploitation requires an authenticated attacker with the necessary permissions, making it accessible to legitimate users who may have malicious intent. By traversing paths to access configuration files, the attacker can extract hard-coded credentials and potentially authenticate to the database or other services if those credentials are reused elsewhere. The application's public source code and the simplicity of the exploit lower the barrier for abuse.
The vulnerability is addressed in LORIS versions 26.0.5, 27.0.2 and later, and 28.0.0 and later, as detailed in the project's GitHub release notes and security advisory (GHSA-g3pp-rqvq-xxhp). As a workaround, administrators can disable the electrophysiology_browser module using the module manager.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-8747
Vulnerability Data
LORIS (Longitudinal Online Research and Imaging System) is a self-hosted web application that provides data- and project-management for neuroimaging research. Starting in version 24.0.0 and prior to versions 26.0.5, 27.0.2, and 28.0.0, an authenticated user with the appropriate authorization can…
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read configuration files on the server by exploiting a path traversal vulnerability. Some of these files contain hard-coded credentials. The vulnerability allows an attacker to read configuration files containing hard-coded credentials. The attacker could then authenticate to the database or other services if those credentials are reused. The attacker must be authenticated and have the required permissions. However, the vulnerability is easy to exploit and the application source code is public. This problem is fixed in LORIS v26.0.5 and v27.0.2 and above, and v28.0.0 and above. As a workaround, the electrophysiogy_browser in LORIS can be disabled by an administrator using the module manager.
- 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.