Public vulnerability disclosure

CVE-2026-77156

ast-cli: Path traversal in tar extraction on Linux/macOS allows writes outside the install directory

publishedCWE-22

Incomplete validation of extracted archive entry paths in ast-cli's tar extraction logic on Linux and macOS (used when installing the Vorpal ASCA real-time engine and the SCA Resolver) would allow a malicious tar archive containing absolute or traversal path entries to write files outside the install directory. Windows builds were not affected, as the Windows extractor performs this path validation. Exploitation required substituting the archive served at "download.checkmarx.com". An attacker able to compromise that server and replace the archive could write arbitrary, executable files to arbitrary filesystem paths via this path traversal. Extraction now validates that each entry's destination path resolves within the working directory and rejects absolute paths.

Technical severity6.4 mediumCVSS 3.1 · CNA: Checkmarx
Published2026-10-22Source updated 2026-11-02
Collected2026-11-022 attributed sources

Fixes and workarounds

No remediation reported in collected sources.

Missing remediation information is not evidence that no patch exists.

Affected products and versions

Affected products, source version ranges and reporting authorities
ProductVersionsAuthority
github.com/checkmarx/ast-cli
Checkmarx
github.com/checkmarx/ast-cli
https://golang.org/pkg
Platforms: MacOS, Linux
≥ 0; < 2.3.51 (affected, semver)
2.3.51 (unaffected, semver)
Other versions: unaffected
CNA: Checkmarx

Version ranges are source assertions. Check the vendor advisory and your installed configuration before determining exposure.

CVSS assessments

CVSS scores, vectors and reporting authorities
Version / scoreVectorAuthority
3.1 / 6.4
medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCNA: Checkmarx
4.0 / 6.3
medium
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:HCNA: Checkmarx

Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

References