Summary
Velero vulnerable to file path traversal when extracting from backup's tarball
Workarounds
Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?
There is no workaround, but the good news is that keeping your OSS safe will prevent the vulnerability.
Impact
What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?
If the attacker compromises the backup's object storage backend and uploads a malicious backup tarball including file names like the following:
- ../../../tmp/escape_1 -> file created at /tmp/escape_1
- ../../../../../../../../tmp/escape_2 -> file created at /tmp/escape_2
- ../../../tmp/cron_poc -> would be /etc/cron.d/backdoor in real attack
- ../../../tmp/ssh_poc -> would be ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
- ../../../tmp/kubeconfig_poc -> would be ~/.kube/config
It's possible that extracting files from the tarball during restore can overwrite sensitive files in the Velero pod filesystem.
Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files. Typical impact: unauthorized file read or write outside the intended directory.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?
By far, there is no patch yet.
We are working on the main branch, then cherry-pick to the release-1.18 for v1.18.1 patch.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-32637? CVE-2026-32637 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in github.com/vmware-tanzu/velero (go), affecting versions < 1.18.1. It is fixed in 1.18.1. Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files.
- Which versions of github.com/vmware-tanzu/velero are affected by CVE-2026-32637? github.com/vmware-tanzu/velero (go) versions < 1.18.1 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-32637? Yes. CVE-2026-32637 is fixed in 1.18.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-32637 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-32637 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2026-32637 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2026-32637? Upgrade
github.com/vmware-tanzu/veleroto 1.18.1 or later.