CVE-2020-26279 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Path Traversal vulnerability in github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs. A fix is available for github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path traversal in github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-26279 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/ipfs/go-ipfsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
It is currently possible for path traversal to occur with DAGs containing relative paths during retrieval. This can cause files to be overwritten, or written to incorrect output directories. The issue can only occur when ipfs get is done on an affected DAG.
- The only affected command is
ipfs get. - The gateway is not affected.
Patches
Traversal fix patched in https://github.com/whyrusleeping/tar-utils/commit/20a61371de5b51380bbdb0c7935b30b0625ac227
tar-utils patch applied to go-ipfs via https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/commit/b7ddba7fe47dee5b1760b8ffe897908417e577b2
Workarounds
Upgrade to go-ipfs 0.8 or later.
References
Binaries for the patched versions of go-ipfs are available on the IPFS distributions site, https://dist.ipfs.io/go-ipfs
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in go-ipfs
- Email us at [email protected]
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs | all versions | 0.8.0go get github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs@v0.8.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs to 0.8.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-26279 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2020-26279 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2020-26279. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-26279 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2020-26279 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.