Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:LSummary
CVE-2026-59996 is a medium-severity Relative Path Traversal (CWE-23) vulnerability in Openbsd Openssh. Its CVSS base score is 4.2 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Lateral Tool Transfer (T1570); ranked at the 17th 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-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-42138
Vulnerability Data
scp in OpenSSH before 10.4 may place a file in the parent directory of an intended directory when the copy occurs between two remote destinations.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The path traversal weakness (CWE-23) in scp allows an attacker to write files outside the intended destination directory when copying between remote hosts. This directly facilitates Lateral Tool Transfer (T1570) by enabling placement of malicious files on a target system via the scp utility.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces access-control decisions so that the scp process cannot write outside the intended destination directory, directly blocking the path-traversal flaw.
Restricts the use of the scp utility (or its remote-to-remote mode) to the minimum set of required functions, reducing the attack surface for directory-traversal misuse.
Requires timely patching of OpenSSH so that the vulnerable scp code is replaced before an attacker can exploit the parent-directory write flaw.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent relative traversal.
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, but does not itself implement the fix.
Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent relative path traversal.
Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against path traversal and other injection flaws.
Secure architecture principles include directory isolation and canonicalization, reducing but not eliminating traversal risk.
Secure coding standards require neutralizing path traversal sequences, directly addressing CWE-23.
Information access restriction limits which files can be reached, mitigating impact but not preventing the traversal flaw.