CVE-2026-41491 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.1) Path Traversal vulnerability in github.com/dapr/dapr. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-41491 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Dapr: Service Invocation path traversal ACL bypass
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-41491.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/dapr/dapr🐹github.com/dapr/dapr🐹github.com/dapr/daprReal-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
Dapr is a portable, event-driven, runtime for building distributed applications across cloud and edge. From versions 1.3.0 to before 1.15.14, 1.16.0-rc.1 to before 1.16.14, and 1.17.0-rc.1 to before 1.17.5, a vulnerability has been found in Dapr that allows bypassing access control policies for service invocation using reserved URL characters and path traversal sequences in method paths. The ACL normalized the method path independently from the dispatch layer, so the ACL evaluated one path while the target application received a different one. This issue has been patched in versions 1.15.14, 1.16.14, and 1.17.5.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/dapr/dapr | ≥ 1.17.0-rc.1&&< 1.17.5 | 1.17.5 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/dapr/dapr | ≥ 1.16.0-rc.1&&< 1.16.14 | 1.16.14 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/dapr/dapr | ≥ 1.3.0&&< 1.15.14 | 1.15.14 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/dapr/dapr. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/dapr/dapr to 1.17.5 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-41491 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2026-41491 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2026-41491. 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-2026-41491 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-41491 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.