CVE-2026-20685Public exploit

Information disclosure via unvalidated cryptex archive paths

Published May 18, 2026 · Updated May 18, 2026

Path traversal in darwin-init in Apple Private Cloud Compute before 5E290.3 allows attackers to leak inference telemetry. The root boot process appends unvalidated archive entry names to its extraction directory without libarchive security flags, allowing crafted cryptex paths to write persistent files outside that directory. Exploitation requires a privileged network position during node provisioning; demonstrated impact redirects request metadata and token metrics, not prompt or response contents.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.21%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Path traversal in darwin-init in Apple Private Cloud Compute before 5E290.3 allows attackers to leak inference telemetry. The root boot process appends unvalidated archive entry names to its extraction directory without libarchive security flags, allowing crafted cryptex paths to write persistent files outside that directory. Exploitation requires a privileged network position during node provisioning; demonstrated impact redirects request metadata and token metrics, not prompt or response contents.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-20685
Published
May 18, 2026
Updated
May 18, 2026
Vendor
Apple
Product
Private Cloud Compute
Classifications
CWE-20, CWE-22, T1565.001, T1041
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 18, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 18, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <5E290.3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Apple · Private Cloud Computeversion=0 <5E290.3

Published CVSS scores

6.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-20Improper Input Validation
CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
T1565.001Stored Data Manipulation
T1041Exfiltration Over C2 Channel

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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