Path traversal in Hex via unvalidated dependency app names
Severity and exploitation
KEV coverage does not rule out exploitation.
Assessment vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NSeverity
high7.5CVSS measures technical severity, not the likelihood of an attack.
Known exploitation
Not listed in the checked CISA KEV catalog
Absence from CISA KEV does not rule out attacks.
Public exploit
Not established by this record
Missing evidence does not mean no public exploit exists.
Remediation
Source guidance available
Review the recorded instructions. Guidance may be a workaround rather than a fixed version.
What this means
Hex versions from 0.6.0 before 2.5.2 have a path traversal vulnerability, allowing a malicious package publisher to delete a directory outside the project's deps directory. A publisher can set an unvalidated app label to a value such as ../../target. This issue affects hex when a developer fetches dependencies.
Summarized by @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast. Verify details against the original sources.Attack conditions
No attack-condition excerpt has been identified here. Review the full source description and references for authentication, network access, and configuration requirements.
Review supporting sources →Affected versions
Check the exact model, release, and any platform requirements against your installation.
hexpm · EEF
hex
1 range
hexpm · EEF
hex
Package identity
pkg:otp/hex?repository_url=https:%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fhexpm%2Fhex&vcs_url=git%2Bhttps:%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Fhexpm%2Fhex.gitIdentity supplied by EEF. Version matching requires compatible range evidence.
Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.
affected
0.6.0 → before 2.5.2
semver versions
Other versions: unaffected
Product identifiers (CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*hexpm · EEF
hex
1 range
hexpm · EEF
hex
Package identity
pkg:github/hexpm/hexIdentity supplied by EEF. Version matching requires compatible range evidence.
Compare with this publisher’s ranges. This does not inspect your installation.
affected
380f87054e1bc08ee13d2b5311bc01f98dad2fc6 → before *
git versions
From 1b3e2ae8f0dd7273a2c2625b9e50b6c67c8568fb: unaffected
From 72279a8e2004b32b20d8767ff010c117193dd02c: unaffected
Source order retained; this version scheme requires manual review.
Other versions: unaffected
Product identifiers (CPE)
cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*What to do
Compare your installed product and version with the affected versions above. A matching product name alone does not confirm exposure.
Upgrade Hex to 2.5.2 or later, for example with mix local.hex. Hex then skips package releases that give a dependency an application name other than a letter followed by letters, digits, _ and -, and warns about them. Resolution fails if no other release of the package fits the requirements.
Before running mix deps.get on a mix.lock from an untrusted change, check that every key in mix.lock is a plain application name without /, \ or ... There's no workaround for new dependency resolution with mix deps.update or mix deps.get without a lock entry.
cve.new guidance unless attributed to a publisher. This page does not inspect your installation.
Public exploit evidence
No public exploit reference is identified in the imported evidence. This is not a claim that no exploit exists.
Original source description
Read the full publisher description
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in hexpm hex allows a malicious package publisher to delete a directory outside the project's deps directory and extract package files into it when a developer fetches dependencies.
A package release's requirements carry an app label that names the dependency's OTP application. Hex takes this label from the repository's signed registry and uses it as the dependency's application name without validating it (Hex.RemoteConverger.deps/2, Hex.Mix.to_lock/1). Mix derives the dependency's checkout directory as deps/<app>, and Hex.SCM.update/1 runs File.rm_rf!/1 on that directory and unpacks the package into it. hex.pm only checks the label's length, so a publisher can set it to a value such as ../../target. When a project depends on such a release directly or transitively, mix deps.get or mix deps.update deletes the directory the label resolves to and writes the labelled package's files there. This happens before any dependency code is compiled.
This issue affects hex: from 0.6.0 before 2.5.2.
References
6 sourcesInside the record
Evidence available
Describes the evidence in this view, not whether the product is safe.
Original records
CVE-2026-96612View the latest unmodified CVE JSON from the official source. It may be newer than this imported page.
cve.new JSON →Underlying weaknesses
The source’s classification of what caused the vulnerability.
Environment requirements
These conditions apply together as specified by the publisher. A matching product name alone does not establish exposure.
EEF · platform conditions
All conditions must hold
Any condition may hold
Vulnerable product
cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*From (inclusive): 0.6.0
Before: 2.5.2
Applicability preview
[
{
"nodes": [
{
"cpeMatch": [
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:hexpm:hex:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"versionEndExcluding": "2.5.2",
"versionStartIncluding": "0.6.0",
"vulnerable": true
}
],
"negate": false,
"operator": "OR"
}
],
"operator": "AND"
}
]Contributing organizations · 2
Assigning organization
Additional data publisher
Timeline
All times UTCAdvisory published
Publication date supplied by the source.
Source updated
Latest modification date supplied by the source.
Last imported by cve.new
Latest catalog import, not the date we first saw this advisory.
What changed
Follow changesLarge field values are marked as truncated previews. Original source snapshots remain retained.