ZLMediaKit downloadFile Root-Directory Confinement Bypass via Prefix Collision
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-22 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
ZLMediaKit confines the downloadFile API to a configured set of root directories with a prefix comparison that does not account for directory boundaries. The configuration loader in server/WebApi.cpp builds each root with File::absolutePath("", item, true); because the relative-path argument is empty that helper returns the value without a trailing separator. The handler then accepts a requested path when start_with(file_path, root) holds, so a sibling directory whose name merely begins with the configured root string satisfies the test and is served. The only other guard rejects a path containing two dots, which this requires none of. The equivalent confinement check for the ordinary static file server in src/Http/HttpFileManager.cpp computes its root with a non-empty second argument, which appends the separator before comparing, and so is not affected. The endpoint requires the configured API secret, so this grants no privilege beyond what that secret already implies, but it reads files outside the directory the operator confined it to, and the reference container runs the server as root.
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
No affected products listed by the sources yet.
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-81028
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-4j5x-jgmh-j582
References
More ZLMediaKit vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-27356 ZLMediaKit VP9 RTP Parser Out-of-Bounds Read CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-15246 ZLMediaKit 4.0 is vulnerable to Directory Traversal. CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2022-17354 An attacker can send malicious RTMP requests to make the ZLMediaKit server crash remotely. CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2023-20282 Cross Site Scripting vulnerability in ZLMediaKiet v.4.0 and v.5.0 allows an attacker to… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-81028 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-81028 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-4j5x-jgmh-j582 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences