CVE-2026-55569 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.6) Path Traversal vulnerability in github.com/aquaproj/aqua/v2. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2026-55569 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Aqua's archive extraction follows attacker-planted symlinks, allowing writes outside the install directory
Real-World Exposure
github.com/aquaproj/aqua/v2Real-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
aquaproj/aqua extracts downloaded tool archives through pkg/unarchive/archives.go using github.com/mholt/archives. The archive handler creates symlink entries with os.Symlink(f.LinkTarget, dstPath) without validating that the symlink target resolves inside the extraction destination. A subsequent regular-file archive entry with the same path is opened with OpenFile(dstPath, O_CREATE|O_WRONLY), which follows the attacker-planted symlink.
A malicious or compromised aqua package / release asset can therefore write attacker-controlled bytes outside aqua's extraction directory, with the privileges of the user running aqua.
Details
Affected file: pkg/unarchive/archives.go
Affected function: (*handler).HandleFile
The vulnerable logic is the combination of:
os.Symlink(f.LinkTarget, dstPath)
for symlink entries, followed by:
h.fs.OpenFile(dstPath, os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, f.Mode())
for a later regular file entry at the same archive path. The symlink target is not jailed to the extraction destination, and the later file open follows the symlink.
The attached PoC uses a two-entry tar.gz archive:
- symlink
pwn -> <outside target>; - regular file
pwncontaining attacker-controlled bytes.
The same mholt/archives extraction flow is used for the vulnerable handler and for a negative-control handler using a destination-root jail.
PoC
Attachment: submission_aqua_archive_symlink_traversal_v2_final.zip
Run:
go run mkarchive.go /tmp/aqua-outside-target
go build -o aqua-archive-poc .
mkdir -p /tmp/aqua-dest
./aqua-archive-poc vuln /tmp/aqua-dest malicious.tar.gz
cat /tmp/aqua-outside-target
mkdir -p /tmp/aqua-dest-safe
./aqua-archive-poc safe /tmp/aqua-dest-safe malicious.tar.gz
Expected vulnerable result:
/tmp/aqua-outside-target contains PWNED_BY_AQUA_SYMLINK_TRAVERSAL
Expected safe-control result:
The escaping symlink / write is rejected and the outside target is unchanged.
Impact
An attacker who controls an archive that aqua installs can write attacker-controlled content to paths outside the extraction destination, limited by the filesystem permissions of the user running aqua. This can lead to user-level code execution if the overwritten path is later executed or interpreted, for example a shell startup file, a tool configuration file, or a writable PATH entry.
This report does not claim privilege escalation beyond the aqua process privileges.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/aquaproj/aqua/v2 | all versions | 2.60.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/aquaproj/aqua/v2. 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/aquaproj/aqua/v2 to 2.60.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-55569 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-2026-55569 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-2026-55569. 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-2026-55569 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2026-55569 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.