CVE-2026-39973 HIGH

CVE-2026-39973: Apktool: Path Traversal to Arbitrary File Write

Vendor Ibotpeaches
Product Apktool
Weakness CWE-22 · Path traversal
Published April 21, 2026
Last update April 23, 2026

CVSS base score

7.1/10
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

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

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Apktool is a tool for reverse engineering Android APK files. In versions 3.0.0 and 3.0.1, a path traversal vulnerability in `brut/androlib/res/decoder/ResFileDecoder.java` allows a maliciously crafted APK to write arbitrary files to the filesystem during standard decoding (`apktool d`). This is a security regression introduced in commit e10a045 (PR #4041, December 12, 2025), which removed the `BrutIO.sanitizePath()` call that previously prevented path traversal in resource file output paths. An attacker can embed `../` sequences in the `resources.arsc` Type String Pool to escape the output directory and write files to arbitrary locations, including `~/.ssh/config`, `~/.bashrc`, or Windows Startup folders, escalating to RCE. The fix in version 3.0.2 re-introduces `BrutIO.sanitizePath()` in `ResFileDecoder.java` before file write operations.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

April 21, 2026 CVE published
April 23, 2026 Record updated