SUSE libzypp up to 17.38.11 repomd.xml path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in SUSE libzypp up to 17.38.11 and classified as problematic. Impacted is an unknown function of the file repomd.xml. Such manipulation leads to path traversal. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-44941. The attack may be launched remotely. There is no exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in SUSE libzypp up to 17.38.11. It has been rated as problematic. Affected by this issue is an unknown code of the file repomd.xml. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a path traversal vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-23. The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize sequences such as ".." that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

A relative path traversal in the "keyhint" option in repomd.xml parsing of libzypp before 17.38.12 can be used by attackers able to supply a malicious repository to inject or overwrite files in the target system as root.

The advisory is available at bugzilla.suse.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-44941 since 05/08/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit. The structure of the vulnerability defines a possible price range of USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/02/2026). This vulnerability is assigned to T1006 by the MITRE ATT&CK project.

By approaching the search of inurl:repomd.xml it is possible to find vulnerable targets with Google Hacking.

Upgrading to version 17.38.12 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 294b1bad442d089ca671c5c03adc8031e3b29e04 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• SUSE

Name

• libzypp

Version

• 17.38.0
• 17.38.1
• 17.38.2
• 17.38.3
• 17.38.4
• 17.38.5
• 17.38.6
• 17.38.7
• 17.38.8
• 17.38.9
• 17.38.10
• 17.38.11

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.suse.com/

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