CVE-2026-78254: apache software foundation apache ant Relative Path Traversal

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-78254 is a high (CVSS 7.4) Relative Path Traversal vulnerability in apache software foundation apache ant. EPSS estimates a 0.52% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 42.8% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 07-09-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 08-09-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

The ftp and scp tasks of Apache Ant can download files from a remote server. A malicious server can provide relative paths that allow it to write outside of the dedicated target directory for the download, making it possible to overwrite files of the attacker's choice using the permissions of the user running Ant in versions prior to Ant 1.10.18. In order to exploit this vulnerability, the server would either have to be malicious or be subject to a machine-in-the-middle attack. Additionally in the case of scp or the ftp task using ftps the server must pass the server identity checks performed by the tasks. For ftp tasks not using ftps a malicious server could act as a machine-in-the-middle to provide malicious files. Starting with Ant 1.10.18 both tasks will prevent writing outside of the destination directory by default. An option is available to disable this behavior in the unlikely case that the old behavior is required by existing build files. Mitigations: Users of scp and ftp (when using ftps) in any version of Ant should not bypass server identity checks. Users of ftp not using ftps should switch to ftps where possible. All users are recommended to upgrade to Apache Ant 1.10.18, which fixes this issue.

• CWE-23Relative Path TraversalThe product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize sequences such as ".." that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.