magic-wormhole up to 0.22.x ~/.ssh/authorized_keys path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in magic-wormhole up to 0.22.x. This issue affects some unknown processing of the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys. Performing a manipulation results in path traversal. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2026-32116. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in magic-wormhole up to 0.22.x. This affects an unknown code of the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-22. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

Magic Wormhole makes it possible to get arbitrary-sized files and directories from one computer to another. From 0.21.0 to before 0.23.0, receiving a file (wormhole receive) from a malicious party could result in overwriting critical local files, including ~/.ssh/authorized_keys and .bashrc. This could be used to compromise the receiver's computer. Only the sender of the file (the party who runs wormhole send) can mount the attack. Other parties (including the transit/relay servers) are excluded by the wormhole protocol. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.23.0.

It is possible to read the advisory at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-32116 since 03/10/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1006 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 302203 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-32116), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 0.23.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (302203). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Name

• magic-wormhole

Version

• 0.1
• 0.2
• 0.3
• 0.4
• 0.5
• 0.6
• 0.7
• 0.8
• 0.9
• 0.10
• 0.11
• 0.12
• 0.13
• 0.14
• 0.15
• 0.16
• 0.17
• 0.18
• 0.19
• 0.20
• 0.21
• 0.22

Website

• Product: https://github.com/magic-wormhole/magic-wormhole/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion