CVE-2026-59944: Path Traversal (CVSS 6.1)

Description

Composer is a dependency Manager for the PHP language. From 1.0 until 2.2.30 and from 2.3.0 until 2.10.3, a malicious or compromised dependency can bypass the earlier CVE-2026-59946 binary-path hardening because Composer validates literal parent-directory segments only during dependency resolution, while the symlink and installed-metadata paths described by the advisory skip that validation. A package can ship an in-package binary symlink that resolves outside its installation directory, or attacker-influenced vendor/composer/installed.json metadata can provide an escaping binary path during a reinstall or regeneration of missing vendor/bin entries. The installed-metadata path is reachable only when the vendor directory was not populated by the same validated install run, such as when it is restored from an untrusted cache, copied from an earlier build stage, carried over from an older Composer run, or writable by a lower-trust build step. Composer can follow the path, change the external target's permissions to make it world-readable and executable, and create a runnable vendor/bin proxy to that external file. The issue does not directly read or transmit data and does not by itself provide remote code execution. This issue is fixed in versions 2.2.30 and 2.10.3.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

6.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-22 Path Traversal

CWE-59 CWE-59

References

Other References

https://github.com/composer/composer/commit/53b8bb4c24697b2f00a18cf1ef35a10392701b89 https://github.com/composer/composer/commit/ad649fdfdf8ed826d4a34e0e5690c76a0b4833aa https://github.com/composer/composer/releases/tag/2.10.3 https://github.com/composer/composer/releases/tag/2.2.30 https://github.com/composer/composer/security/advisories/GHSA-96h3-5x6v-m776

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-59944? +

Composer is a dependency Manager for the PHP language. From 1.0 until 2.2.30 and from 2.3.0 until 2.10.3, a malicious or compromised dependency can bypass the earlier CVE-2026-59946 binary-path hardening because Composer validates literal parent-directory segments only during dependency resolution, while the symlink and installed-metadata paths described by the advisory skip that validation. A package can ship an in-package binary symlink that resolves outside its installation directory, or attacker-influenced vendor/composer/installed.json metadata can provide an escaping binary path during a reinstall or regeneration of missing vendor/bin entries. The installed-metadata path is reachable only when the vendor directory was not populated by the same validated install run, such as when it is restored from an untrusted cache, copied from an earlier build stage, carried over from an older Composer run, or writable by a lower-trust build step. Composer can follow the path, change the external target's permissions to make it world-readable and executable, and create a runnable vendor/bin proxy to that external file. The issue does not directly read or transmit data and does not by itself provide remote code execution. This issue is fixed in versions 2.2.30 and 2.10.3. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.1 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-59944? +

CVE-2026-59944 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.1 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-59944? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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