Erlang OTP stdlib zip module lib/stdlib/src/zip.erl zip:unzip/1/2/zip:extract/1/2 path traversal

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Erlang OTP. Affected by this issue is the function zip:unzip/1/2/zip:extract/1/2 of the file lib/stdlib/src/zip.erl of the component stdlib zip module. The manipulation results in path traversal. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-47078. The attack can be launched remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Erlang OTP (unknown version). Affected is the function zip:unzip/1/2/zip:extract/1/2 of the file lib/stdlib/src/zip.erl of the component stdlib zip module. 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. CVE summarizes:

Relative Path Traversal vulnerability in Erlang OTP (stdlib zip module) allows writing files outside the intended extraction directory via a crafted zip archive. zip:unzip/1,2 and zip:extract/1,2 validate entry paths using zip:check_dir_level/2, which tracks directory depth as a running integer counter: .. decrements it, normal path components increment it. The caller rejects only paths where the final counter value is less than zero. A path such as ../x/y causes the counter to go negative mid-traversal then recover to zero, passing validation while resolving to a location outside the extraction directory when joined with the current working directory via add_cwd. This vulnerability is associated with program file lib/stdlib/src/zip.erl. This issue affects OTP from OTP 27.1 before 27.3.4.15, 28.5.0.4, and 29.0.4 corresponding to stdlib from 6.1 before 6.2.2.4, 7.3.0.1, and 8.0.3.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-47078 since 05/18/2026. 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 known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $0-$5k (estimation calculated on 07/27/2026). The MITRE ATT&CK project declares the attack technique as T1006.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• Erlang

Name

• OTP

Website

• Product: https://github.com/erlang/otp/

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