CVE-2026-42795 PUBLISHED

Symlink Following in Hex Package Export Allows Embedding Files Outside Project Root

Assigner: EEF
Reserved: 29.04.2026 Published: 02.06.2026 Updated: 02.06.2026

Symlink following vulnerability in Gleam's Hex package export allows files outside the project root to be embedded in the generated package tarball.

The file collection helpers (gleam_files, native_files, private_files) in compiler-cli/src/fs.rs use follow_links(true) when walking publishable directories such as src/ and priv/. The collected paths are added to the package archive via add_path_to_tar in compiler-cli/src/publish.rs without verifying that the resolved target remains within the project root. A symlink placed under a publishable directory will cause gleam export hex-tarball or gleam publish to embed the contents of the symlink target into the generated Hex package.

An attacker with write access to the project repository can place a symlink in src/ or priv/ pointing to an arbitrary file. When a maintainer or CI pipeline runs gleam publish or gleam export hex-tarball, local files readable by the publisher (such as secrets, tokens, or SSH keys) are silently embedded into the published package artifact.

This issue affects Gleam from 0.10.0-rc1 until 1.17.0.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS Score: 5.1

Product Status

Vendor Gleam
Product Gleam
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0.10.0-rc1 to 1.17.0 (excl.)
Vendor Gleam
Product Gleam
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0.10.0-rc1 to 1.17.0 (excl.)
  • affected from c82a2d83bd0c06cafdc196820deb3f89a9b3ff7c to 6435a5528b9ae0449e2f32be579641ec485f6866 (excl.)
Vendor Gleam
Product Gleam
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-elixir to v1.17.0-elixir (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-erlang to v1.17.0-erlang (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-node to v1.17.0-node (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-node-slim to v1.17.0-node-slim (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-elixir-slim to v1.17.0-elixir-slim (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-erlang-slim to v1.17.0-erlang-slim (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-erlang-alpine to v1.17.0-erlang-alpine (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-elixir-alpine to v1.17.0-elixir-alpine (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-node-alpine to v1.17.0-node-alpine (excl.)
  • affected from v0.10.0-rc1-scratch to v1.17.0-scratch (excl.)

Workarounds

  • Avoid running gleam publish or gleam export hex-tarball on untrusted projects
  • Review the contents of src/ and priv/ for unexpected symlinks before publishing
  • Run publishing commands in a restricted or isolated environment (e.g. containers)

Credits

  • Aly (spect3r1) finder
  • Abdelrahman Ahmed Aboelkasem (0x2face) finder
  • Louis Pilfold remediation developer
  • Jonatan Männchen / EEF analyst

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') CWE

Impacts

  • CAPEC-132 Symlink Attack