Arbitrary file write via unsanitized recovery paths
Published Apr 8, 2026 · Updated Apr 8, 2026
Path traversal in The Sleuth Kit tsk_recover through 4.14.0 allows attackers to write files outside the recovery directory. TskRecover::writeFile preserves slash-delimited parent-directory components from filenames in a crafted filesystem image when constructing export paths. Exploitation requires a user or process to recover the image; the resulting write uses that process's permissions and can overwrite files at reachable paths.
Summary
What happened
Path traversal in The Sleuth Kit tsk_recover through 4.14.0 allows attackers to write files outside the recovery directory. TskRecover::writeFile preserves slash-delimited parent-directory components from filenames in a crafted filesystem image when constructing export paths. Exploitation requires a user or process to recover the image; the resulting write uses that process's permissions and can overwrite files at reachable paths.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-40024
- Published
- Apr 8, 2026
- Updated
- Apr 8, 2026
- Vendor
- Sleuth Kit Labs
- Product
- The Sleuth Kit
- Classifications
- CWE-22, T1204.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Apr 8, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 8, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=4.14.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- tsk_recover crafted ext2 traversal reproductionproof of concept · demonstrated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo