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9.3
CVE-2026-89259: Hugo can read/write files outside the project
CVE-2026-89259 · published 1 month ago
Summary
Versions of Hugo from 0.43 up to 0.164 let the TailwindCSS tool bypass file‑access limits, so a malicious Node script could modify files beyond the site folder. This could let an attacker change or steal data on the build server. Upgrade to Hugo 0.165 or later, or configure a stricter security.exec.allow list in your hugo.toml.
What to do
- Update debian hugo to version 0.165.0-1.
- Update gohugoio hugo to version 0.165.0 or later.
Affected software
| Ecosystem | Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | gohugoio | hugo | < 0.165.0 |
| Debian:12 | debian | hugo | All versions |
| Debian:14 | debian | hugo |
< 0.165.0-1 Fix: upgrade to 0.165.0-1
|
| Ubuntu:16.04:LTS | canonical | hugo | All versions |
Original advisory text
Hugo before v0.165.0 Insufficient Permission Restriction via TailwindCSS
Hugo is a static site generator. From v0.161.0, Hugo executes Node tools under Node's permission model, but TailwindCSS — included in the default security.exec.allow list — requires a highly permissive configuration (--allow-addons, --allow-child-process, --allow-worker). As a result, the restrictions intended by the fix for GHSA-x597-9fr4-5857 could still be bypassed, allowing a Node tool invoked during a build to read and write files outside the project's working directory. Affected versions are those after v0.43; the issue was fixed in v0.165.0 by removing tailwindcss from the default security.exec.allow list. Users who do not use TailwindCSS, or who only build trusted sites, are not affected. As a workaround, users can define a restrictive security.exec.allow list in hugo.toml.
References
- https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/security/advisories/GHSA-vrm6-x8vp-mv2r
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/hugo-before-0.165.0-insufficient-permission...
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-89259 Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/89xxx/CVE-2026-89259... Vendor Advisory
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89259 Vendor Advisory
- https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-89259 Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89259 Third Party Advisory
Internet-facing
3 days
Internal
60 days
- Not known to be exploited
- Can be exploited automatically
- Gives an attacker full control
Severity
9.3
Critical
Type
CWE-250Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
Timeline
Published11 Sep 2026
Updated11 Oct 2026
First seen11 Sep 2026
Sources
CVE-2026-89259 · NVD
CVE-2026-89259 · MITRE
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89259 · OSV
CVE-2026-89259 · OSV
GHSA-vrm6-x8vp-mv2r · GHSA
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89259 · OSV
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