Trivy has a path traversal via a crafted vulnerability database or other downloaded artifacts

## Summary When Trivy downloads an OCI artifact, it uses the `org.opencontainers.image.title` annotation from the artifact manifest as the destination filename without validation. An attacker who can make Trivy fetch an attacker-controlled artifact can supply a crafted annotation that resolves to a path outside the intended destination, causing Trivy to write the layer content to an arbitrary location on the host filesystem. ## Affected configurations Exploitation requires the attacker to direct Trivy at an attacker-controlled OCI artifact via one of the following inputs: | Input | Used for | | --- | --- | | `--db-repository` flag, `TRIVY_DB_REPOSITORY` environment variable, or `db.repository` in `trivy.yaml` | Vulnerability database | | `--java-db-repository` flag, `TRIVY_JAVA_DB_REPOSITORY` environment variable, or `db.java-repository` in `trivy.yaml` | Java vulnerability database | | `--checks-bundle-repository` flag (and the deprecated `--policy-bundle-repository` alias), `TRIVY_CHECKS_BUNDLE_REPOSITORY` environment variable, or `misconfiguration.checks-bundle-repository` in `trivy.yaml` | Misconfiguration checks bundle | | Repository argument to `trivy module install <REPO>` | WASM module installation | Realistic scenarios in which an attacker may influence these inputs include a copy-pasted command or documentation snippet pointing to an untrusted mirror, or a third-party mirror that turns out to be hostile. Trivy's default configuration, which downloads these artifacts from Aqua-operated repositories, is not affected. The risk applies only when one of the inputs above is overridden to download a different artifact. ## Impact An attacker who satisfies the conditions above can overwrite or create arbitrary files on the host filesystem within the privilege boundary of the user running Trivy. The vulnerability does not grant any privileges beyond what that user already has. The practical impact depends on the deployment. In environments where the running user can overwrite files such as SSH `authorized_keys`, shell startup files, cron entries, or binaries on `PATH`, the file write may be leveraged to achieve code execution as that user. In more restricted deployments, the impact is bounded to the user's writable scope but may still allow tampering with scan results, build artifacts, or other files consumed by subsequent steps in the same pipeline. ## Patches Fixed in Trivy `0.71.1`. Users should upgrade to that release or later. ## Workarounds If upgrading is not immediately possible, do not download Trivy artifacts (vulnerability database, Java database, misconfiguration checks bundle, modules, etc.) from OCI repositories you do not operate or trust. ## Credits Reported by @ikkebr.

Source published

25 Aug 2026 17:33:02 UTC

Source modified

10 Sep 2026 03:51:14 UTC

Observed here

24 Oct 2026 13:19:41 UTC

Source terms

GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0

Original source record · Cite this exact observation · Complete original publisher JSON

This view projects the publisher's source fields for reading; the original JSON retains additional fields and CVE enrichment containers. Attribution: osv · GitHub Advisory Database · CC-BY-4.0. Source text is retained; field grouping and change labels are provided by ChangeIntel.

CVSS_V3 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS_V4 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Publisher rating · HIGH