CVE-2026-89021
Received Received - Intake

Path Traversal in MikroTik RouterOS Container Package

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-89021, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-09-14

Last updated on: 2026-09-14

Assigner: VulnCheck

Description

MikroTik RouterOS before 7.24.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the container package OCI/tar image extraction that allows attackers to write files outside the container root by supplying a crafted container image with symlinks pointing to arbitrary paths. Attackers can exploit unsanitized tar member path extraction during container import via /container/add to achieve root-privileged file creation, directory creation, file deletion via overlayfs whiteout, and hardlink creation on the persistent data partition without ever starting the container. The 7.23.x long-term branch does not contain this fix; the container binaries in container-7.23.3.npk and container-7.23.4.npk are byte-identical, and there is no fixed long-term release at the time of publication.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-14
Last Modified
2026-09-14
Generated
2026-09-14
AI Q&A
2026-09-14
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
mikrotik routeros to 7.24.2 (exc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
CWE Icon
KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-59 The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
CWE-22 The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

MikroTik RouterOS before version 7.24.2 has a path traversal flaw in its container package. Attackers can exploit this by uploading a malicious container image with symlinks pointing to arbitrary system paths. During extraction, the system fails to sanitize tar member paths, allowing attackers to write, delete, or create files outside the intended container directory without even starting the container.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability could allow attackers to overwrite critical system files, delete important data, or create malicious files on your MikroTik RouterOS device. This could lead to system instability, unauthorized access, or even complete device compromise. Attackers do not need to start the container to exploit this issue.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade MikroTik RouterOS to version 7.24.2 or later to address the path traversal vulnerability in the container package.

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