Medium severity · published Oct 22, 2026
CVE-2026-77156
ast-cli: Path traversal in tar extraction on Linux/macOS allows writes outside the install directory
New
6.4
CVSS
0.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Incomplete validation of extracted archive entry paths in ast-cli's tar extraction logic on Linux and macOS (used when installing the Vorpal ASCA real-time engine and the SCA Resolver) would allow a malicious tar archive containing absolute or traversal path entries to write files outside the install directory. Windows builds were not affected, as the Windows extractor performs this path validation.
Exploitation required substituting the archive served at "download.checkmarx.com". An attacker able to compromise that server and replace the archive could write arbitrary, executable files to arbitrary filesystem paths via this path traversal.
Extraction now validates that each entry's destination path resolves within the working directory and rejects absolute paths.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.3% · higher than 28% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
GI
github.com/checkmarx/ast-cli · Checkmarx
before 2.3.51 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-77156
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-77156
github.com
https://github.com/Checkmarx/ast-cli
github.com
https://github.com/Checkmarx/ast-cli/security/advisories/GHSA-9gff-3q53-q75x
More from github.com/checkmarx/ast-cli
6.4
CVE-2026-77157
ast-cli: Auto-update downloads are not verified against a checksum before execution
