Strapi up to 5.36.x path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in Strapi up to 5.36.x. This vulnerability affects unknown code. The manipulation results in path traversal. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-27886. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Strapi up to 5.36.x. Affected is some unknown functionality. 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. CVE summarizes:

Strapi is an open source headless content management system. Strapi versions starting in 4.0.0 and prior to 5.37.0 did not sufficiently sanitize query parameters when filtering content via relational fields. An unauthenticated attacker could use the `where` query parameter on any publicly-accessible content-type with an `updatedBy` (or other admin-relation) field to perform a boolean-oracle attack against private fields on the joined `admin_users` table, including the `resetPasswordToken` field. Extracting an admin reset token via this oracle made full administrative account takeover possible without authentication. When a filter such as `where[updatedBy][resetPasswordToken][$startsWith]=a` was applied to a public Content API endpoint, the underlying query generation performed a `LEFT JOIN` against the `admin_users` table and emitted a `WHERE` clause referencing the joined column. The query parameter sanitization layer did not block operator chains that traversed into relational target schemas the caller had no read permission on, allowing the response count to be used as a one-bit oracle on any admin-table field. The patch in version 5.37.0 introduces explicit query-parameter sanitization at the controller and service boundary via three new primitives: `strictParam`, `addQueryParams`, and `addBodyParams`. Operator chains that traverse into restricted relational targets are now rejected before reaching the database.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-27886 since 02/24/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1006.

Upgrading to version 5.37.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1552). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Open Source Strapi

Productinfo

Name

• Strapi

Version

• 5.0
• 5.1
• 5.2
• 5.3
• 5.4
• 5.5
• 5.6
• 5.7
• 5.8
• 5.9
• 5.10
• 5.11
• 5.12
• 5.13
• 5.14
• 5.15
• 5.16
• 5.17
• 5.18
• 5.19
• 5.20
• 5.21
• 5.22
• 5.23
• 5.24
• 5.25
• 5.26
• 5.27
• 5.28
• 5.29
• 5.30
• 5.31
• 5.32
• 5.33
• 5.34
• 5.35
• 5.36

Website

• Product: https://github.com/strapi/strapi/

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VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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