How severe is CVE-2026-54448?

No CVSS score has been assigned to CVE-2026-54448 yet. Review the advisory details and affected package list to assess your exposure.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-54448?

CVE-2026-54448 affects the following packages: github.com/aquasecurity/trivy (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2026-54448?

Update github.com/aquasecurity/trivy to 0.71.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-54448 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2026-54448 in my Go dependencies?

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

How do I mitigate CVE-2026-54448 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.

Is CVE-2026-54448 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2026-54448 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2026-54448?

CVE-2026-54448 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.4%, placing it in the 38th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2026-54448?

CVE-2026-54448 is classified as CWE-770 (CWE-770), CWE-789 (CWE-789). These weakness types describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2026-54448 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2026-54448 was published on June 25, 2026 and was last updated on October 21, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

CVE-2026-54448 — trivy

Fix: aquasecurity/trivy#10718

CVE-2026-54448 is a CWE-770 vulnerability in github.com/aquasecurity/trivy. A fix is available for github.com/aquasecurity/trivy — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Trivy: Helm chart tar bomb causes OOM via unbounded io.ReadAll in parser

Also known asGHSA-q3fv-x8vg-qqm4GO-2026-5983

Published

Jun 25, 2026

Updated

Oct 21, 2026

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

1 / 1

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 24, 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.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-54448.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.4%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs38th percentile — riskier than 38% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

🐹github.com/aquasecurity/trivy

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

Summary

When Trivy scans a Helm chart archive (.tgz), its custom tar unpacker reads each entry with io.ReadAll(tr) and no size limit. An attacker who can place a malicious .tgz file in the scanned path can craft a small compressed archive that decompresses to gigabytes, causing the Trivy process to be killed by the OS OOM killer.

Affected configurations

Exploitation requires the attacker to place a crafted .tgz file in a location that Trivy will scan as a Helm chart. This applies to the following scan targets:

Command	Condition
`trivy config <dir>`	Directory contains a crafted `.tgz` Helm chart (misconfiguration scanning is always enabled)
`trivy filesystem --scanners misconf <dir>`	Directory contains a crafted `.tgz` Helm chart and `--scanners misconf` is explicitly enabled
`trivy image --scanners misconf <image>`	Image contains a crafted `.tgz` Helm chart and `--scanners misconf` is explicitly enabled

Realistic scenarios include:

A CI pipeline that runs trivy config . on a repository where a contributor can submit a pull request containing a crafted chart archive.
A pipeline that scans a container image with --scanners misconf, whose build context includes untrusted .tgz files.

Impact

An attacker who satisfies the conditions above can exhaust all available memory on the host running Trivy. The OS OOM killer will terminate the Trivy process and may affect other processes sharing the same host or CI runner.

The practical impact in CI environments is denial of service: the scan fails, the pipeline is blocked, and repeated submissions re-trigger the same condition. Cloud CI runners may also incur additional costs for consumed resources.

There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity of the scanned system.

Patches

Fixed in Trivy v0.71.0 (#10718). The custom tar unpacker was replaced with archive.LoadArchiveFiles from the official helm.sh/helm/v4 SDK, which enforces per-entry and total size limits and validates archive structure. Users should upgrade to v0.71.0 or later.

Workarounds

If upgrading is not immediately possible:

Set a memory limit (cgroup/container) on the Trivy process to bound the blast radius.
Use --skip-dirs to exclude directories containing untrusted Helm chart archives from the scan.
Avoid scanning repositories or images with untrusted .tgz files.

Credits

Reported by @jamesgol.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`github.com/aquasecurity/trivy`	all versions	0.71.0`go get github.com/aquasecurity/trivy@v0.71.0`

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

trivyaquasec

< 0.71.0

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/aquasecurity/trivy, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/aquasecurity/trivy to 0.71.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-54448 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.

Frequently Asked Questions

## Summary When Trivy scans a Helm chart archive (`.tgz`), its custom tar unpacker reads each entry with `io.ReadAll(tr)` and no size limit. An attacker who can place a malicious `.tgz` file in the scanned path can craft a small compressed archive that decompresses to gigabytes, causing the Trivy process to be killed by the OS OOM killer. ## Affected configurations Exploitation requires the attacker to place a crafted `.tgz` file in a location that Trivy will scan as a Helm chart. This applies to the following scan targets: | Command | Condition | | --- | --- | | `trivy config <dir>` | Dir

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