CVE-2026-49453: Joplin: Path traversal in resource sync — silent arbitrary file write outside the resource directory

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-49453 is a high (CVSS 7.0) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in laurent22 joplin. EPSS estimates a 0.41% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 34.1% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 21-09-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 22-09-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Joplin is an open source note-taking and to-do application that organises notes and lists into notebooks. Prior to 3.6.15 and 3.7.2, Joplin accepts synchronized resource metadata whose id or file_extension contains parent-directory or path-separator characters. BaseItem.unserialize() stores the unvalidated fields, resourceFilename() concatenates them into a destination path, and ResourceFetcher writes the attacker-controlled resource blob outside the resource directory during background synchronization. An attacker with write access to a configured sync target or shared notebook can create or overwrite files at an attacker-chosen existing path without user interaction. This issue is fixed in versions 3.6.15 and 3.7.2.

• CWE-20Improper Input ValidationThe product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.
• CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.