---
id: CVE-2026-97024
title: >-
  A path traversal vulnerability in Flatpak's handling of the files/etc
  directory during app deployment allows a malicious Flatpak app to cause
  certain host system files (such as passwd, group, machine-id, or resolv.conf)
  to be emptied or …
summary: >-
  A path traversal vulnerability in Flatpak's handling of the files/etc
  directory during app deployment allows a malicious Flatpak app to cause
  certain host system files (such as passwd, group, machine-id, or resolv.conf)
  to be emptied or …
severity: high
cvss: 7.1
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-61
vendor: Red Hat
product: flatpak
affected:
  - flatpak (all versions)
  - flatpak (all versions)
  - flatpak (all versions)
  - flatpak (all versions)
published: '2026-09-29'
updated: '2026-09-29'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-29T04:18:02.397'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97024'
references:
  - url: 'https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-97024'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2542625'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
  - url: 'https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/security/advisories/GHSA-8xgq-v545-vgvf'
    label: secalert@redhat.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-09-29T04:27:15.487Z'
---

## Overview

A path traversal vulnerability in Flatpak's handling of the files/etc directory during app deployment allows a malicious Flatpak app to cause certain host system files (such as passwd, group, machine-id, or resolv.conf) to be emptied or replaced with a symlink when the app is installed or upgraded. In system-wide installations, the write is performed as root.

## Remediation

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