melange has Path Traversal When Resolving External Pipelines via Unvalidated pipeline[].uses
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · Low · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
melange allows users to build apk packages using declarative pipelines. Starting in version 0.32.0 and prior to version 0.43.4, an attacker who can influence a melange configuration file — for example through pull-request-driven CI or build-as-a-service scenarios — could set `pipeline[].uses` to a value containing `../` sequences or an absolute path. The `(*Compiled).compilePipeline` function in `pkg/build/compile.go` passed `uses` directly to `filepath.Join(pipelineDir, uses + ".yaml")` without validating the value, so the resolved path could escape each `--pipeline-dir` and read an arbitrary YAML-parseable file visible to the melange process. Because the loaded file is subsequently interpreted as a melange pipeline and its `runs:` block is executed via `/bin/sh -c` in the build sandbox, this additionally allowed shell commands sourced from an out-of-tree file to run during the build, bypassing the review boundary that normally covers the in-tree pipeline definition. The issue is fixed in melange v0.43.4 via commit 5829ca4. The fix rejects `uses` values that are absolute paths or contain `..`, and verifies (via `filepath.Rel` after `filepath.Clean`) that the resolved target remains within the pipeline directory. As a workaround, only run `melange build` against configuration files from trusted sources. In CI systems that build user-supplied melange configs, gate builds behind manual review of `pipeline[].uses` values and reject any containing `..` or leading `/`.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chainguard-dev | melange | 0.32.0 to before 0.43.4 | 0.43.4 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | chainguard.dev/melange (Go) | 0.32.0 to before 0.43.4 | 0.43.4 | Patch available | GHSA-98f2-w9h9-7fp9 |
- melange Vendorchainguard-dev Affected 0.32.0 to before 0.43.4 Fixed in 0.43.4 Patch available CNA
- chainguard.dev/melange (Go) Vendor— Affected 0.32.0 to before 0.43.4 Fixed in 0.43.4 Patch available GHSA-98f2-w9h9-7fp9
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:chainguard:melange:*:*:*:*:*:go:*:* | 0.32.0 to before 0.43.4 | Vulnerable | chainguard-dev |
- cpe:2.3:a:chainguard:melange:*:*:*:*:*:go:*:* Versions 0.32.0 to before 0.43.4 Vulnerable ·chainguard-dev
Remediation
- Fix · CNA melange (chainguard-dev) Fixed in 0.43.4
- Fix · GHSA-98f2-w9h9-7fp9 chainguard.dev/melange (Go) Fixed in 0.43.4 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-29050
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-98f2-w9h9-7fp9
References
More chainguard-dev Melange vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-20043 melange pipeline working-directory could allow command injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-20042 melange QEMU runner could write files outside workspace directory CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2026-20305 melange affected by potential host command execution via license-check YAML mode patch pipeline CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2026-20307 melange has a path traversal in license-path which allows reading files outside workspace CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
- TI-2026-23196 melange has Path Traversal via .PKGINFO in --persist-lint-results CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.4
- TI-2026-23194 melange: unbounded HTTP download in `melange update-cache` can exhaust disk in CI CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-29050 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-29050 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-98f2-w9h9-7fp9 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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