Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2026-24846 affects malcontent, a tool used to inspect archives for supply-chain compromise. A crafted tar or deb archive can cause malcontent to create symlinks outside the intended extraction directory during scanning. This is mainly an integrity risk to systems or workflows that scan untrusted archives with vulnerable versions.
Executive priority
Treat as a timely but not emergency update. Prioritize environments where malcontent scans third-party or untrusted archives in automated workflows, because integrity impact is high even though exploitation requires a crafted archive to be processed.
Technical view
malcontent versions 1.8.0 through before 1.20.3 mishandle archive symlinks. The handleSymlink function received arguments in the wrong order, and symlink targets were not validated to remain within the extraction directory. The issue is classified as CWE-22 and CWE-683, with CVSS 3.1 score 5.5: AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely where malcontent 1.8.0 to before 1.20.3 scans tar or deb archives, especially from untrusted or automated supply-chain sources. The CVSS vector requires local interaction and user action, so remote exposure depends on how scanning is integrated into pipelines.
Exploitation context
Sources do not report active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked KEV. An attacker would need to get a specially crafted archive scanned by a vulnerable malcontent instance. Successful exploitation could affect file integrity through symlink creation outside the intended extraction directory.
Researcher notes
The advisory attributes the bug to reversed handleSymlink arguments plus missing validation of symlink targets resolving inside the extraction directory. Fixes in 1.20.3 swap arguments, validate symlink location, and validate symlink targets. Public sources provide patch references but no evidence of exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade malcontent to version 1.20.3 or later.
- Review vendor advisory and commits for deployment-specific guidance.
- Limit scanning of untrusted archives until vulnerable installations are upgraded.
- Run archive scanning with least privileges and isolated temporary directories.
Validation and detection
- Inventory malcontent installations and identify versions 1.8.0 through 1.20.2.
- Check CI, supply-chain, and security scanning workflows for malcontent usage.
- Confirm upgraded deployments report malcontent version 1.20.3 or later.
- Review logs or filesystem changes around scans of untrusted tar or deb archives.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-22: File access and web shell behavior lookup
File traversal and upload weaknesses can lead teams to review file, web shell, execution, and collection telemetry. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-683: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-24846 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N1.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/security/advisories/GHSA-923j-vrcg-hxwhCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/commit/259fca5abc004f3ab238895463ef280a87f30e96CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/malcontent/commit/a7dd8a5328ddbaf235568437813efa7591e00017CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.