Description
Algernon is a small self-contained pure-Go web server. Prior to 1.17.8, when algernon is started with --domain (or --letsencrypt, which silently turns on --domain at engine/flags.go:372), the request handler resolves the served directory by joining the configured --dir with the value of the client-supplied Host header. The join is performed by filepath.Join with no validation, so a Host: .. header walks one level above the document root. Subsequent file resolution then exposes everything in that parent directory — arbitrary file read, full directory listing, and, if any .lua file is present, server-side Lua execution. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.8.
Published: 2026-05-26
Score: 8.2 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

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Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-jc3j-x6pg-4hmv Algernon: Host header path traversal in --domain mode reads files and runs Lua from parent dir
History

Wed, 27 May 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Xyproto
Xyproto algernon
Vendors & Products Xyproto
Xyproto algernon

Tue, 26 May 2026 18:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'yes', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}


Tue, 26 May 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Algernon is a small self-contained pure-Go web server. Prior to 1.17.8, when algernon is started with --domain (or --letsencrypt, which silently turns on --domain at engine/flags.go:372), the request handler resolves the served directory by joining the configured --dir with the value of the client-supplied Host header. The join is performed by filepath.Join with no validation, so a Host: .. header walks one level above the document root. Subsequent file resolution then exposes everything in that parent directory — arbitrary file read, full directory listing, and, if any .lua file is present, server-side Lua execution. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.8.
Title Algernon: Host header path traversal in --domain mode reads files and runs Lua from parent dir
Weaknesses CWE-22
CWE-23
CWE-644
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 8.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N'}


Subscriptions

Xyproto Algernon
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-26T17:27:56.507Z

Reserved: 2026-05-20T18:46:58.291Z

Link: CVE-2026-48126

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-05-26T17:27:11.550Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Deferred

Published: 2026-05-26T17:16:53.360

Modified: 2026-06-17T10:54:52.580

Link: CVE-2026-48126

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-27T10:04:25Z

Weaknesses