CVE-2026-86692Canonical apport path traversal
CVE-2026-86692 is a path traversal in Canonical apport, rated medium (5.7 on CVSS 4.0).
Why this priority: Medium severity, with no exploitation signal.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Received
What it is
A file name from the request can climb out of the intended folder with sequences like ../, reaching files the service never meant to expose.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, without an account, but someone has to act first, such as opening a file or following a link. Success also depends on conditions the attacker does not fully control.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can change data or behaviour. 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
- Upgrade Canonical apport to 2.37.0 or later.
- Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
- Warn the people who use it, and filter files and links on the way in.
Description from NVD
In apport before 2.37.0, a path traversal vulnerability allows an attacker who can supply a crafted crash report to cause unintended file creation or overwrite outside the intended extraction directory when the report is processed with apport-unpack.
The key-name validation added for CVE-2026-77113 does not cover base64-encoded keys skipped by ProblemReport.load(binary=False), and ProblemReport.extract_keys() writes them to a file path built from the key without validation. This allows an attacker to create or overwrite arbitrary files writable by the invoking user, such as .bashrc or .profile, gaining persistence or code execution in that user's context.
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.
- People who open files and links. Mail, chat and browsers are the delivery path.
- 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 Canonical apport 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.