Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
Cockpit CMS 2.13.5 and earlier has a Buckets file-handling flaw. An authenticated user could place files where they should not be allowed within uploads, or replace existing assets. The main business risk is content tampering, service disruption, and loss of trust in public-facing assets.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority remediation for any internet-facing or multi-user Cockpit deployment. The issue can let a valid account tamper with site assets and potentially disrupt operations.
Technical view
The issue is a CWE-22 directory traversal in Cockpit's Buckets component. The CVSS 3.1 score is 8.1 with low attack complexity and low privileges required. The described impact is integrity and availability: arbitrary writes within uploads and malicious asset overwrite. No confidentiality impact is stated in the provided CVSS vector.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where Cockpit CMS 2.13.5 or earlier is deployed and authenticated users can access Buckets or upload asset workflows.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated access, but no user interaction and low complexity are indicated.
Researcher notes
The provided affected-product metadata is incomplete, but the description names Cockpit 2.13.5 and earlier. Analysis should focus on authenticated Buckets file-write paths, role exposure, upload path normalization, and asset overwrite controls without assuming broader filesystem write access.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cockpit 2.14.0 release guidance and upgrade if it is the vendor-fixed version.
- Restrict Buckets and upload access to trusted administrators only.
- Disable unnecessary asset upload workflows until vendor guidance is applied.
- Review uploads and assets for unexpected replacements or suspicious file paths.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cockpit instances and identify any running version 2.13.5 or earlier.
- Confirm which authenticated roles can access Buckets or asset upload features.
- Compare uploads and public assets against known-good backups or deployment artifacts.
- Check vendor release notes and advisories for exact fixed versions and upgrade instructions.
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 lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-38993 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
- High
- CVSS
- 8.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
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.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe 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:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H2.85.2redhat-SADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N2.83.6CISA-ADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.1HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- ADP timelineredhat-SADP
Made public.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- ADP timelineredhat-SADP
Reported to Red Hat.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
- 2026-04-29T16:00:53.685Z: Reported to Red Hat.
- 2026-04-29T00:00:00.000Z: Made public.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/Cockpit-HQ/Cockpit/releases/tag/2.14.0CVE reference, mitre
- https://felsec.com/posts/cockpit-cms-2.13.5-multi-vulns/CVE reference, mitre
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-38993CVE reference, redhat-SADP · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2463843CVE reference, redhat-SADP · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-38993.jsonCVE reference, redhat-SADP · x_sadp-csaf-vex
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.
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.