---
id: CVE-2026-89021
title: >-
  MikroTik RouterOS before 7.24.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the
  container package OCI/tar image extraction that allows attackers to write
  files outside the container root by supplying a crafted container image with
  symlink…
summary: >-
  MikroTik RouterOS before 7.24.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the
  container package OCI/tar image extraction that allows attackers to write
  files outside the container root by supplying a crafted container image with
  symlink…
severity: medium
cvss: 6.9
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L'
cwe:
  - CWE-22
  - CWE-59
vendor: MikroTik
product: RouterOS
affected:
  - RouterOS < 7.24.2
published: '2026-09-14'
updated: '2026-09-24'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-24T21:04:40.340'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89021'
references:
  - url: 'https://forum.mikrotik.com/t/7-24-2-stable-is-released/272800'
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: >-
      https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/mikrotik-routeros-path-traversal-via-container-oci-tar-image-extraction
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
  - url: 'https://mikrotik.com/supportsec/september-2026-vulnerability'
    label: disclosure@vulncheck.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00381
epssPercentile: 0.29372
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-09-14T19:01:29.158499Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T19:13:23.482Z'
---

## Overview

MikroTik RouterOS before 7.24.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the container package OCI/tar image extraction that allows attackers to write files outside the container root by supplying a crafted container image with symlinks pointing to arbitrary paths. Attackers can exploit unsanitized tar member path extraction during container import via /container/add to achieve root-privileged file creation, directory creation, file deletion via overlayfs whiteout, and hardlink creation on the persistent data partition without ever starting the container. The 7.23.x long-term branch does not contain this fix; the container binaries in container-7.23.3.npk and container-7.23.4.npk are byte-identical. The vendor has confirmed that the issue is not resolved in the long-term release and that the fix is carried forward only in the stable branch from 7.24.2 onward, with no backport to the long-term branch planned.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.