Apktool: Path Traversal to Arbitrary File Write

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-39973
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-04-21 02:16:07 UTC
Updated2026-04-21 02:16:07 UTC
DescriptionApktool is a tool for reverse engineering Android APK files. In versions 3.0.0 and 3.0.1, a path traversal vulnerability in `brut/androlib/res/decoder/ResFileDecoder.java` allows a maliciously crafted APK to write arbitrary files to the filesystem during standard decoding (`apktool d`). This is a security regression introduced in commit e10a045 (PR #4041, December 12, 2025), which removed the `BrutIO.sanitizePath()` call that previously prevented path traversal in resource file output paths. An attacker can embed `../` sequences in the `resources.arsc` Type String Pool to escape the output directory and write files to arbitrary locations, including `~/.ssh/config`, `~/.bashrc`, or Windows Startup folders, escalating to RCE. The fix in version 3.0.2 re-introduces `BrutIO.sanitizePath()` in `ResFileDecoder.java` before file write operations.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.1 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Problem Types: CWE-22 | CWE-22 CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary7.1HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
3.1CNADECLARED7.1HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA IBotPeaches Apktool affected >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.2 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/iBotPeaches/Apktool/releases/tag/v3.0.2 [email protected] github.com
github.com/iBotPeaches/Apktool/commit/e10a0450c7afcd9462c0b76bcbff0e7428... [email protected] github.com
github.com/iBotPeaches/Apktool/security/advisories/GHSA-m8mh-x359-vm8m [email protected] github.com
github.com/iBotPeaches/Apktool/pull/4041 [email protected] github.com
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