Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:L/SI:H/SA:H/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:XSummary
CVE-2026-27969 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Linuxfoundation Vitess. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 33th 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-2026-27969 is a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in Vitess, a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL. It affects Vitess versions prior to 23.0.3 and 22.0.4, where attackers can manipulate backup manifest files in the backup storage location, such as an S3 bucket. By altering the manifest to include attacker-controlled files and paths, the vulnerability allows these files to be written to arbitrary accessible locations during the restore process. The issue has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
An attacker with read/write access to the backup storage can exploit this by modifying manifest files and injecting malicious content into the backup. Upon restoration by a legitimate Vitess user, the manipulated files are placed in unintended locations within the production deployment environment. This grants the attacker unauthorized access to that environment, enabling them to retrieve sensitive information and execute arbitrary commands.
Vitess versions 23.0.3 and 22.0.4 include patches addressing the vulnerability, as detailed in the commit at https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/commit/c565cab615bc962bda061dcd645aa7506c59ca4a, the pull request at https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/pull/19470, and the security advisory at https://github.com/vitessio/vitess/security/advisories/GHSA-r492-hjgh-c9gw. No known workarounds are available.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-8821
Vulnerability Data
Vitess is a database clustering system for horizontal scaling of MySQL. Prior to versions 23.0.3 and 22.0.4, anyone with read/write access to the backup storage location (e.g. an S3 bucket) can manipulate backup manifest files so that files in the…
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manifest — which may be files that they have also added to the manifest and backup contents — are written to any accessible location on restore. This is a common path traversal security issue. This can be used to provide that attacker with unintended/unauthorized access to the production deployment environment — allowing them to access information available in that environment as well as run any additional arbitrary commands there. Versions 23.0.3 and 22.0.4 contain a patch. No known workarounds are available.
- 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.