CVE-2026-23888 MEDIUM

CVE-2026-23888: pnpm: Binary ZIP extraction allows arbitrary file write via path traversal (Zip Slip)

Vendor Pnpm
Product pnpm
Weakness CWE-22 · Path traversal
Published January 26, 2026
Last update January 27, 2026

CVSS base score

6.5/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Confidentiality None
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

pnpm is a package manager. Prior to version 10.28.1, a path traversal vulnerability in pnpm's binary fetcher allows malicious packages to write files outside the intended extraction directory. The vulnerability has two attack vectors: (1) Malicious ZIP entries containing `../` or absolute paths that escape the extraction root via AdmZip's `extractAllTo`, and (2) The `BinaryResolution.prefix` field is concatenated into the extraction path without validation, allowing a crafted prefix like `../../evil` to redirect extracted files outside `targetDir`. The issue impacts all pnpm users who install packages with binary assets, users who configure custom Node.js binary locations and CI/CD pipelines that auto-install binary dependencies. It can lead to overwriting config files, scripts, or other sensitive files leading to RCE. Version 10.28.1 contains a patch.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

January 26, 2026 CVE published
January 27, 2026 Record updated