CVE-2026-26158: busybox External Control of File Name or Path
Vulnerability summary
CVE-2026-26158 is a high (CVSS 7.0) External Control of File Name or Path vulnerability in busybox. EPSS estimates a 0.20% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 8.7% of scored vulnerabilities.
Advisory lineage
Upstream 0 · Downstream 7 · Related 7Timeline
- 11-02-2026PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
- 15-07-2026Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.
Description
A flaw was found in BusyBox. This vulnerability allows an attacker to modify files outside of the intended extraction directory by crafting a malicious tar archive containing unvalidated hardlink or symlink entries. If the tar archive is extracted with elevated privileges, this flaw can lead to privilege escalation, enabling an attacker to gain unauthorized access to critical system files.
CVSS metrics
4 scores · 4 sources · 1 version- OSV · UbuntuEcosystem advisory · calculated7.0HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- OSV · DebianEcosystem advisory · calculated7.0HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- NVDNIST7.0HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS trend
Probability
0.20%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Percentile
9%
Versus all other CVEs
30-day change
+0.03 pp
From 0.17% on 19-09-2026
Known exploited
Compare KEV catalogsNot in any of the 3 tracked catalogs.
Public exploits
0 foundNo public exploits indexed.
Weaknesses
CWE · root causeAffected systems
Chainguard1 product
- busybox< 1.37.0-r58
Debian1 product
- busyboxAll versions (No fix recorded) | < 1:1.37.0-10.1
Opensuse1 product
- busybox&distro=openSUSE Tumbleweed< 1.37.0-9.1
Ubuntu1 product
- busyboxAll versions (No fix recorded)
Wolfi1 product
- busybox< 1.37.0-r58
5 vendors · 5 products
