File exposure via escaping dependency binary paths
Published Sep 16, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026
Path traversal in Composer's binary installer allows attackers to expose external files via malicious dependency binaries. BinaryInstaller and FileDownloader follow escaping binary symlinks or paths from vendor/composer/installed.json without checking resolved-path containment, changing target permissions and registering vendor/bin proxies. Exploitation requires processing a malicious dependency and a target modifiable by the Composer process; the metadata route additionally requires a reused or lower-trust vendor directory, and the flaw neither directly transmits data nor independently provides remote code execution.
Summary
What happened
Path traversal in Composer's binary installer allows attackers to expose external files via malicious dependency binaries. BinaryInstaller and FileDownloader follow escaping binary symlinks or paths from vendor/composer/installed.json without checking resolved-path containment, changing target permissions and registering vendor/bin proxies. Exploitation requires processing a malicious dependency and a target modifiable by the Composer process; the metadata route additionally requires a reused or lower-trust vendor directory, and the flaw neither directly transmits data nor independently provides remote code execution.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-59944
- Published
- Sep 16, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Vendor
- Composer
- Product
- Composer
- Classifications
- CWE-22, CWE-59, CWE-732, T1195.001, T1222.002
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 16, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 16, 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=>= 1.0.0, < 2.2.30
- Affected versionversion=>= 2.3.0, < 2.10.3
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.
Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Upstream binary-path escape regression reproducersproof of concept · unverified
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
Get started to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Get started