Path Traversal in Jaraco Jaraco.context
CVE-2026-23949
jaraco.context, an open-source software package that provides some useful decorators and context managers, has a Zip Slip path traversal vulnerability in the `jaraco.context.tarball()` function starting in version 5.2.0 and prior to version 6.1.0. The vulnerability may allow attackers to extract files outside the intended extraction directory when malicious tar archives are processed. The strip_first_component filter splits the path on the first `/` and extracts the second component, while allowing `../` sequences. Paths like `dummy_dir/../../etc/passwd` become `../../etc/passwd`. Note that this suffers from a nested tarball attack as well with multi-level tar files such as `dummy_dir/inner.tar.gz`, where the inner.tar.gz includes a traversal `dummy_dir/../../config/.env` that also gets translated to `../../config/.env`. Version 6.1.0 contains a patch for the issue.
Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)
EPSS: 0.005 (41.6th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 8.6 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N.
Affected products
- Jaraco Jaraco.context — versions >= 5.2.0, < 6.1.0
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- security-advisories@github.com (x_refsource_CONFIRM, Exploit, Mitigation, Vendor Advisory)
- security-advisories@github.com (Patch, x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (Patch, x_refsource_MISC)
- security-advisories@github.com (Patch, x_refsource_MISC)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-23949?
- CVE-2026-23949 is a high-severity vulnerability in Jaraco Jaraco.context, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 8.6/10. Published 2026-01-20.
- How severe is CVE-2026-23949?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.6 out of 10.