---
id: CVE-2026-48049
aliases:
  - GHSA-rcvq-m9j9-6f4g
title: '@hapi/inert has a static-file confinement bypass via sibling-prefix path'
summary: '@hapi/inert has a static-file confinement bypass via sibling-prefix path'
severity: medium
cvss: 5.3
cwe:
  - CWE-22
vendor: hapi
product: '@hapi/inert'
ecosystem: npm
affected:
  - '@hapi/inert >= 4.0.0, <= 7.1.0'
patched:
  - '@hapi/inert 7.1.1'
published: '2026-06-11'
updated: '2026-06-11'
source: GHSA
sourceUrl: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rcvq-m9j9-6f4g'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/hapijs/inert/security/advisories/GHSA-rcvq-m9j9-6f4g'
  - url: 'https://github.com/hapijs/inert/pull/176'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/hapijs/inert/commit/a65e5b271b5c3405af463469959c5e052eb23a62
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rcvq-m9j9-6f4g'
tags:
  - ghsa
  - npm
ingestedAt: '2026-07-07T15:41:59.303Z'
epss: 0.0059
epssPercentile: 0.46964
---

## Overview

### Impact
`@hapi/inert` serves static files from a directory configured with `path` (in the `directory` / `file` handlers) or `relativeTo` (for `h.file()`), with confinement enforced by the `confine` option (default `true`). Before the patch, the confinement check compared the resolved absolute path against the confine directory using a raw string-prefix test, so a sibling directory whose absolute path begins with the same characters as the confine directory (eg. `/app/static-secret` next to a served `/app/static`) was incorrectly accepted as confined. An unauthenticated remote attacker who knows or guesses such a sibling name can read any file inside it via a request like `/..%2fstatic-secret/secret.txt`, provided the file is readable by the server process. Only applications that happen to have a sibling directory sharing a string prefix with the served directory are exploitable; applications with no such sibling are unaffected.

### Patches
Upgrade to 7.1.1.

### Workarounds
For users who cannot upgrade immediately: ensure the directory served via inert has no sibling whose name starts with the same characters (for example, rename `static-secret/` to `secret/`, or move it to a different parent directory).

### Resources
Pull Request: https://github.com/hapijs/inert/pull/176

## Affected packages

- `@hapi/inert >= 4.0.0, <= 7.1.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `@hapi/inert 7.1.1`