CVE-2026-62992 — smarty/smarty
Fix: smarty-php/smarty@99c048cCVE-2026-62992 is a Path Traversal vulnerability in smarty/smarty. A fix is available for smarty/smarty — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Smarty: Symlink path traversal out of trusted directories
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-62992.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
smarty/smarty🐘smarty/smartyReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
When Smarty's Security policy is enabled, secure_dir (and the configured template/trusted directories) restrict which local files a template may read via {include} and {fetch}. The trust check in Security::_checkDir() resolved the requested path with Smarty::_realpath(), which normalizes the path as a string only and does not follow symbolic links. A symlink placed inside a trusted directory therefore passed the trust check, while the underlying file_get_contents() followed it to an arbitrary file outside the sandbox (e.g. /etc/passwd).
Impact
An attacker able to (a) cause a symlink to exist inside a trusted directory (e.g. a user-upload area located within the template path) and (b) cause a template to reference that path can read arbitrary files readable by the PHP process, escaping the secure_dir boundary. Confidentiality impact only.
Patches
Fixed in 5.8.2. Security::_checkDir() now resolves the requested file with native realpath() and re-validates the canonical, symlink-free path against the trusted directories (which are canonicalized the same way, so legitimate symlinked deployment paths such as a Capistrano current symlink or macOS /var → /private/var keep working). It falls back to string normalization only when the file does not yet exist on disk.
Workarounds
Ensure no untrusted symlinks can be created within any directory listed in secure_dir/the trusted template directories; restrict write access to those directories to trusted processes only.
References
- Fix commit: 99c048c
- CWE-22
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | smarty/smarty | ≥ 5.0.0&&< 5.8.2 | 5.8.2composer require smarty/smarty:^5.8.2 |
| 🐘Packagist | smarty/smarty | all versions | 4.5.7composer require smarty/smarty:^4.5.7 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for smarty/smarty, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update smarty/smarty to 5.8.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-62992 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2026-62992 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2026-62992. 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-2026-62992 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2026-62992 across Packagist dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.