Etherpad is a real-time collaborative editor. Prior to 3.1.0, src/node/handler/ImportHandler.ts and src/node/handler/ExportHandler.ts derive temporary filenames from Math.random() and place them in os.tmpdir(). On a host with a shared world-writable temporary directory, a local unprivileged attacker who predicts a filename can precreate a symbolic link to a file writable by the Etherpad process. Subsequent import or export operations can follow the link through fs.writeFile, fs.rename, or document-conversion output and overwrite the target with partially attacker-controlled content. This issue is fixed in version 3.1.0.

Project Subscriptions

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-2jwf-f4xq-f24h ep_etherpad-lite: Import/export uses Math.random() for temp file paths; predictable paths on shared /tmp enable symlink-based file overwrite
Fixes

Solution

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Workaround

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History

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 19:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Etherpad is a real-time collaborative editor. Prior to 3.1.0, src/node/handler/ImportHandler.ts and src/node/handler/ExportHandler.ts derive temporary filenames from Math.random() and place them in os.tmpdir(). On a host with a shared world-writable temporary directory, a local unprivileged attacker who predicts a filename can precreate a symbolic link to a file writable by the Etherpad process. Subsequent import or export operations can follow the link through fs.writeFile, fs.rename, or document-conversion output and overwrite the target with partially attacker-controlled content. This issue is fixed in version 3.1.0.
Title Etherpad: Import/export use Math.random() for temp file paths; predictable paths on shared /tmp enable symlink-based file overwrite
Weaknesses CWE-377
CWE-59
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 4.2, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N'}


Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-19T19:35:46.851Z

Reserved: 2026-06-16T14:41:54.578Z

Link: CVE-2026-55086

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-19T20:17:17.520

Modified: 2026-08-19T20:17:17.520

Link: CVE-2026-55086

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses