OpenTofu: Provider cache installation follows root-module-controlled package directory symlink and writes outside the working tree

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

No dated EPSS signal available.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary If a symlink already exists under the .terraform/providers directory where a provider package needs to be installed, tofu init would follow that symlink and install the new package content into it. If an attacker can coerce an operator into running tofu init in a directory whose contents are attacker-controlled, they can include such a symlink along with instruction to install an attacker-controlled provider package at the path of that symlink, which would then cause OpenTofu to write the contents of that provider package into an arbitrary directory elsewhere in the filesystem if the OpenTofu process has sufficient permission to write there. Details OpenTofu permits provider cache entries to be symlinks to other locations because that is how the local cache in a specific working directory refers to matching entries in a global cache directory configured in the CLI configuration file. Unfortunately, OpenTofu's provider installer was missing a rule to remove an existing symlink…

Published by the source

23 Jun 2026, 22:23 UTC

Last modified by the source

23 Jun 2026, 22:23 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-wcmj-x466-56mm

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# Patch Next advisory brief: GHSA-wcmj-x466-56mm

Advisory: OpenTofu: Provider cache installation follows root-module-controlled package directory symlink and writes outside the working tree
IDs: GHSA-wcmj-x466-56mm
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/ghsa-wcmj-x466-56mm (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/opentofu/opentofu 1.11.7, 1.10.10. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/opentofu/opentofu: affected >= 1.11.0, < 1.11.7; < 1.10.10; fixed in 1.11.7, 1.10.10

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/opentofu/opentofu: 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 github.com/opentofu/opentofu.
- 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-wcmj-x466-56mm (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-wcmj-x466-56mm lists affected ranges: Go github.com/opentofu/opentofu >=1.11.0 =0 <1.10.10)

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