CVE-2026-24846
malcontent discovers supply-chain compromises through. context, differential analysis, and YARA. Starting in version 1.8.0 and prior to version 1.20.3, malcontent could be made to create symlinks outside the intended extraction directory when scanning a specially crafted tar or deb archive. The `handleSymlink` function received arguments in the wrong order, causing the symlink target to be used as the symlink location. Additionally, symlink targets were not validated to ensure they resolved within the extraction directory. Version 1.20.3 introduces fixes that swap handleSymlink arguments, validate symlink location, and validate symlink targets that resolve within an extraction directory.
EPSS 0.19% · 8.3th percentile
Risk Scores
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| github.com | chainguard-dev/malcontent | 1.8.0 |
| chainguard | malcontent | 1.8.0 |
| chainguard-dev | malcontent | >= 1.8.0, < 1.20.3 |
Timeline
- Jan 29, 2026 CVE Published
- Jan 29, 2026 CVE Updated
- Jan 29, 2026 PoC Published
- Jan 30, 2026 EPSS Score
- Jan 30, 2026 Security Advisory
- Feb 2, 2026 EPSS Score
- Feb 5, 2026 EPSS Score
- Feb 7, 2026 EPSS Score
- Feb 10, 2026 EPSS Score
- Feb 13, 2026 EPSS Score
- Feb 16, 2026 EPSS Score
- Feb 19, 2026 EPSS Score
References
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/security/advisories/GHSA-923j-vrcg-hxwh url
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/commit/259fca5abc004f3ab238895463ef280a87f30e96 fix
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/commit/a7dd8a5328ddbaf235568437813efa7591e00017 fix
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24846 advisory
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent package