Path Traversal in Mikrotik Routeros
CVE-2026-89021
MikroTik RouterOS before 7.24.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the container package OCI/tar image extraction that allows attackers to write files outside the container root by supplying a crafted container image with symlinks pointing to arbitrary paths. Attackers can exploit unsanitized tar member path extraction during container import via /container/add to achieve root-privileged file creation, directory creation, file deletion via overlayfs whiteout, and hardlink creation on the persistent data partition without ever starting the container. The 7.23.x long-term branch does not contain this fix; the container binaries in container-7.23.3.npk and container-7.23.4.npk are byte-identical, and there is no fixed long-term release at the time of publication.
Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 6.9 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L.
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- disclosure@vulncheck.com (vendor-advisory, patch)
- disclosure@vulncheck.com (third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-89021?
- CVE-2026-89021 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Mikrotik Routeros, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 6.9/10. Published 2026-09-14.
- How severe is CVE-2026-89021?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.9 out of 10.