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Fencer Intel
critical 9.9

CVE-2026-44881 json

Portainer: Arbitrary File Read via Git Symlink Injection in Stack Auto-Update

published 5mo ago modified 3mo ago also EUVD-2026-33065 , GHSA-rpgq-m5fp-32wr , GO-2026-5633

cvss
9.9
version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.5%
EPSS 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 43%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Portainer Community Edition is a lightweight service delivery platform for containerized applications that can be used to manage Docker, Swarm, Kubernetes and ACI environments. From 2.33.0 to before 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0, Portainer supports deploying stacks from Git repositories. When a Git-backed stack is created or updated, Portainer clones the repository using go-git v5, which translates Git blob entries with mode 0o120000 (symlink) into real OS symlinks on the host filesystem via os.Symlink. The only entry blocked from becoming a symlink is .gitmodules; every other path is created as a symlink without validation. Portainer's GET /api/stacks/{id}/file endpoint then reads the stack entry point with os.ReadFile, which follows OS symlinks transparently. A repository containing docker-compose.yml as a symlink to an arbitrary filesystem path causes the symlink target's contents to be returned verbatim in the HTTP response. Any authenticated user with rights to create or update a Git-backed stack — the default configuration in Portainer CE — can read arbitrary files accessible to the Portainer process. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.33.8, 2.39.2, and 2.41.0.

Patch / fix

  • go github.com/portainer/portainer 2.33.8, 2.39.2, 2.41.0
  • portainer portainer 2.33.8, 2.39.2, 2.41.0
  • govulncheck-vulndb openSUSE Leap 16.0 0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1

Is CVE-2026-44881 in your dependencies? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

Check with Fencer

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
5mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.51% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 43% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/portainer/portainer/security/advisories/GHSA-rpgq-m5fp-32wr referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 4.0 8.5 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
GitHub 3.1 9.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 4.0 8.5 CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
NVD 3.1 9.9 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
go github.com/portainer/portainer
>=2.33.0, <2.33.8
>=2.39.0, <2.39.2
>=2.40.0, <2.41.0
all versions
2.33.8
2.39.2
2.41.0

Affected products

  • portainer portainer

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access
  • CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.