CVE-2026-49253 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.1) Path Traversal vulnerability in electerm. A fix is available for electerm — see the affected versions and patch details below.
electerm: Path Traversal in Zmodem and Trzsz Download Filename Handling
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.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-49253.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
electermnpmDescription
Impact
A path traversal vulnerability exists in the Zmodem and Trzsz file download handlers in electerm. When receiving files via Zmodem or Trzsz protocols, electerm uses the remote-supplied filename directly in path.join() with the user-selected download directory without sanitization.
A malicious SSH server or remote shell process can send a specially crafted filename such as ../escaped.txt to escape the user-selected download directory and write files to arbitrary locations on the user's filesystem, subject to process permissions.
Attack scenario:
- User connects to a malicious SSH server
- Attacker initiates a Zmodem or Trzsz file transfer
- Attacker supplies a traversal filename (e.g.,
../../.bashrc,../escaped.txt) - User accepts the transfer and selects a download directory
- File is written outside the selected directory, potentially overwriting sensitive files
Affected components:
src/app/server/zmodem.js-prepareReceiveFile()at line 736src/app/server/trzsz.js-getUniqueFilePath()at line 559,openSaveFile()callback, andsavedFilePathsmapping
Patches
Workarounds
If upgrading is not immediately possible, users can mitigate this vulnerability by:
- Only connecting to trusted SSH servers
- Rejecting or canceling any incoming Zmodem or Trzsz file transfers from untrusted sources
- Avoiding the use of Zmodem (
sz/rz) and Trzsz (trz/tsz) commands on untrusted servers
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | electerm | all versions | 3.11.11npm install electerm@3.11.11 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for electerm, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update electerm to 3.11.11 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-49253 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-49253 in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.