Unrated

Path Traversal in psd-tools SmartObject Handling

IdentifiersCVE-2026-49836CWE-22

CVE-2026-49836 is a path traversal vulnerability in psd-tools affecting SmartObject handling when applications process untrusted PSD or PSB files and extract embedded smart objects. The flaw allows attacker-controlled smart-object filenames to influence the destination path used during extraction, enabling writes outside the intended output directory. A related issue affects external-kind smart objects, where filesystem paths referenced by the document can be resolved in an unsafe manner, allowing arbitrary readable local files to be accessed and their contents written to an attacker-controlled destination. The vulnerability arises from insufficient sanitization and confinement of file paths during SmartObject save and open operations.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can allow an attacker to write attacker-controlled bytes to arbitrary filesystem locations reachable by the vulnerable process, resulting in unauthorized file creation or overwrite outside the designated extraction directory. In the external smart-object case, the attacker may also cause arbitrary local file reads and redirect the contents into a controlled output location, exposing sensitive data. The overall impact is high on integrity and may lead to code execution if the attacker can target executable, configuration, startup, or otherwise security-sensitive paths.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Do not process untrusted PSD or PSB files with SmartObject.save() or SmartObject.open() in workflows that extract embedded or external smart objects until patched. Where processing cannot be avoided, isolate extraction in a dedicated sandboxed directory, strip path components from embedded filenames, reject absolute paths and traversal sequences, and disable or tightly restrict resolution of external smart objects so they cannot access arbitrary filesystem locations.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade psd-tools to version 1.17.1 or later. The corrected implementation sanitizes embedded filenames using basename-style handling, constrains writes to an explicitly supplied directory using canonical path validation such as realpath and commonpath checks, and introduces controls for external smart-object resolution to restrict reads to an allowed directory.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

No public activity tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

0 SOURCESView more in app

No public activity observed for this vulnerability.

What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity