CVE-2026-48126CWE-22CWE-23CWE-644

Algernon: Host header path traversal in --domain mode reads files and runs Lua from parent dir

High · published May 26, 2026

CVSS v3.1
8.2
EPSS
1%
Percentile
42.0
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

Algernon is a small self-contained pure-Go web server. Prior to 1.17.8, when algernon is started with --domain (or --letsencrypt, which silently turns on --domain at engine/flags.go:372), the request handler resolves the served directory by joining the configured --dir with the value of the client-supplied Host header. The join is performed by filepath.Join with no validation, so a Host: .. header walks one level above the document root. Subsequent file resolution then exposes everything in that parent directory — arbitrary file read, full directory listing, and, if any .lua file is present, server-side Lua execution. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.8.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
8.2 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00502 · 42.0th percentile
Weaknesses
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'); CWE-23 · Relative Path Traversal; CWE-644 · Improper Neutralization of HTTP Headers for Scripting Syntax
Published
2026-05-26T16:44Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 26 MAY 16:44Z
    Algernon: Host header path traversal in --domain mode reads files and runs Lua from parent dir
    cvelistv5