CVE-2026-23838: nixos nixpkgs

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-23838 is a high (CVSS 8.7) vulnerability in nixos nixpkgs. EPSS estimates a 0.51% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 42.4% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 19-01-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 20-01-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Tandoor Recipes is a recipe manager than can be installed with the Nix package manager. Starting in version 23.05 and prior to version 26.05, when using the default configuration of Tandoor Recipes, specifically using SQLite and default `MEDIA_ROOT`, the full database file may be externally accessible, potentially on the Internet. The root cause is that the NixOS module configures the working directory of Tandoor Recipes, as well as the value of `MEDIA_ROOT`, to be `/var/lib/tandoor-recipes`. This causes Tandoor Recipes to create its `db.sqlite3` database file in the same directory as `MEDIA_ROOT` causing it to be accessible without authentication through HTTP like any other media file. This is the case when using `GUNICORN_MEDIA=1` or when using a web server like nginx to serve media files. NixOS 26.05 changes the default value of `MEDIA_ROOT` to a sub folder of the data directory. This only applies to configurations with `system.stateVersion` >= 26.05. For older configurations, one of the workarounds should be applied instead. NixOS 25.11 has received a backport of this patch, though it doesn't fix this vulnerability without user intervention. A recommended workaround is to move `MEDIA_ROOT` into a subdirectory. Non-recommended workarounds include switching to PostgreSQL or disallowing access to `db.sqlite3`.

• CWE-538Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or DirectoryThe product places sensitive information into files or directories that are accessible to actors who are allowed to have access to the files, but not to the sensitive information.