Critical severity · published Aug 5, 2026
CVE-2026-17556
Path traversal in GitHub Enterprise Server allowed unauthenticated deletion of instance storage via the X-GitHub-Request-Id header
9.1
CVSS
0.8%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
A path traversal vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed an unauthenticated attacker to delete arbitrary files and directories on the instance, including the entire user storage directory containing Git LFS objects, release assets, attachments, and avatars. The X-GitHub-Request-Id request header was used without sanitization as a filesystem path segment for the upload buffer directory, so a traversal value pointed the buffer at an arbitrary path and the deferred cleanup routine recursively removed the traversed target. Exploitation required only network reachability to the instance and no authentication, and it worked even when private mode was enabled. This vulnerability affected all versions of GitHub Enterprise Server prior to 3.22 and was fixed in versions 3.21.4, 3.20.6, 3.19.10, 3.18.13 and 3.17.19. This vulnerability was reported via the GitHub Bug Bounty program.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.8% · higher than 57% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
ES
Enterprise Server · GitHub
3.17.0 through 3.17.18; 3.18.0 through 3.18.12; 3.19.0 through 3.19.9; 3.20.0 through 3.20.5; 3.21.0 through 3.21.3 · source: vendor, NVD
Affected product
ES
Enterprise Server
GitHub
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