CVE-2026-124584wummel patool link following
CVE-2026-124584 is a link following in wummel patool, rated medium (4.8 on CVSS 4.0).
Why this priority: Medium severity, with no exploitation signal.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Deferred
What it is
The software follows a symbolic link an attacker planted, so it reads or writes a file other than the one it checked. The software follows a symbolic link an attacker created and touches a file it never meant to.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
The direct impact is limited: partial access to data or a partial outage. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker read or write files outside the folders the service meant to expose.
Is it being exploited?
There is no public report of exploitation yet.
What to do
- No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place wummel patool runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
- Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
Description from NVD
A vulnerability has been found in wummel patool 4.1.0. This vulnerability affects the function extract_gzip of the file patoolib/fileutil.py of the component Gzip Extraction Handler. The manipulation leads to symlink following. Local access is required to approach this attack. The researcher claims to have submitted a GHSA on the repository of the project.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- File storage the service can read or write. The flaw sits between the application and the file system it can reach.
Trust boundaries in play
- Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
- Between the application and the file system it can reach. An attacker who crosses it can read or write files outside the folders the service meant to expose.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does wummel patool run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.