melange has a path traversal in license-path which allows reading files outside workspace

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

5.5 · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2026-25145: 0.19% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 8.85 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

An attacker who can influence a melange configuration file (e.g., through pull request-driven CI or build-as-a-service scenarios) could read arbitrary files from the host system. The LicensingInfos function in pkg/config/config.go reads license files specified in copyright[].license-path without validating that paths remain within the workspace directory, allowing path traversal via ../ sequences. The contents of the traversed file are embedded into the generated SBOM as license text, enabling exfiltration of sensitive data through build artifacts. Fix: Merged in commit 2f95c9f4 Acknowledgements melange thanks Oleh Konko (@1seal) from 1seal for discovering and reporting this issue.

Published by the source

4 Feb 2026, 00:09 UTC

Last modified by the source

4 Feb 2026, 21:56 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:14 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-2w4f-9fgg-q2v9

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-25145

Advisory: melange has a path traversal in license-path which allows reading files outside workspace
IDs: CVE-2026-25145, GHSA-2w4f-9fgg-q2v9
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-25145 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:14 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: chainguard.dev/melange 0.40.3. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go chainguard.dev/melange: affected >= 0.14.0, < 0.40.3; fixed in 0.40.3

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go chainguard.dev/melange: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on chainguard.dev/melange.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2w4f-9fgg-q2v9 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-2w4f-9fgg-q2v9 lists affected ranges: Go chainguard.dev/melange >=0.14.0 <0.40.3)

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