`CVE-2026-78254`

7.4 High Protected by RASP

Published 8 days ago. NVD backfills CPE data for days or weeks after publication, and OSV and the exploit indexes lag too. Scope and status here may change.

Description

The ftp and scp tasks of Apache Ant can download files from a remote server. A malicious server can provide relative paths that allow it to write outside of the dedicated target directory for the download, making it possible to overwrite files of the attacker's choice using the permissions of the user running Ant in versions prior to Ant 1.10.18. In order to exploit this vulnerability, the server would either have to be malicious or be subject to a machine-in-the-middle attack. Additionally in the case of scp or the ftp task using ftps the server must pass the server identity checks performed by the tasks. For ftp tasks not using ftps a malicious server could act as a machine-in-the-middle to provide malicious files. Starting with Ant 1.10.18 both tasks will prevent writing outside of the destination directory by default. An option is available to disable this behavior in the unlikely case that the old behavior is required by existing build files. Mitigations: Users of scp and ftp (when using ftps) in any version of Ant should not bypass server identity checks. Users of ftp not using ftps should switch to ftps where possible. All users are recommended to upgrade to Apache Ant 1.10.18, which fixes this issue.

CWE-23 · Relative path traversal

Exploitation Status

No public exploit

Nothing published shows this CVE being exploited, which is not the same as ruling it out.

CVSS E:U

CISA KEV not listed
CISA Vulnrichment exploitation: none
Indexed PoC none indexed
EPSS 0.54% chance in 30 days

Waratek Defense Posture

Protected by RASP

A Waratek agent blocks this today.

Applicable rule: Promoted to MITIGATED-BY-RASP (security rule): this CVE's weakness (CWE-23: Relative Path Traversal) can be mitigated by an ARMR path-traversal security rule that blocks this class of attack at the JVM level, without requiring a CVE-specific patch.

Protection full a general security rule for the vulnerability class
Action available security rule
Review automated inferred
Record active

Decided by secure-rule-match : A vulnerability class already blocked by an ARMR security rule

Finding Promoted to MITIGATED-BY-RASP (security rule): this CVE's weakness (CWE-23: Relative Path Traversal) can be mitigated by an ARMR path-traversal security rule that blocks this class of attack at the JVM level, without requiring a CVE-specific patch.

Decided by	`secure-rule-match` : A vulnerability class already blocked by an ARMR security rule
Finding	Promoted to MITIGATED-BY-RASP (security rule): this CVE's weakness (CWE-23: Relative Path Traversal) can be mitigated by an ARMR path-traversal security rule that blocks this class of attack at the JVM level, without requiring a CVE-specific patch.

CVSS

7.4 HIGH v3.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N 1 metric

VRT selects the newest version's highest entry and publishes it as cvssScore, newest rather than largest because scores are not comparable across versions, and highest rather than first because the first entry is frequently a CNA placeholder scoring 0.0 over NVD's own analysis.

Version Score Band Vector Assigner Type

CVSS 3.1 7.4 HIGH CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N CISA-ADP Secondary published

Version	Score	Band	Vector	Assigner	Type
CVSS 3.1	7.4	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`	CISA-ADP	Secondary	published

Affected Software & Releases

🖥️ Product CPEs & Version Ranges

1 product(s) over 1 version claims (uncapped)

Source	Vendor	Product	Scheme	Affected Versions
nvd	apache	ant	generic	＜ 1.10.18

Source

Vendor

Product

Scheme

Affected Versions

nvd

apache

ant

generic

＜ 1.10.18

References

URL	Tags
https://lists.apache.org/thread/05s46qrlbhd06c6rsgvxh8zo0l4p9scz	Mailing List, Vendor Advisory
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/09/06/2	Mailing List, Third Party Advisory

URL

Timeline

Published 2026-09-07 Last modified 2026-09-09

Published	2026-09-07	By the CVE Program.
NVD record modified	2026-09-09	NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

Published

2026-09-07

By the CVE Program.

NVD record modified

2026-09-09

NVD's own last-modified date for this record.

Pipeline policy audit (16 of 21 rules evaluated)

16 of 21 rules ran. The rest were never reached, because an earlier stage settled the CVE, a distinct claim from a rule that ran and found nothing.

# Rule Outcome Status Detail

identity: Does this identifier describe a vulnerability at all? first match wins

1 rejected no-match CVE Program withdrawal of this identifier

scope: Is the vulnerability ARMR's to address? first match wins

2 armr-patch-file no-match An ARMR patch file on disk for this CVE

3 armr-secure-rule-file no-match An ARMR security-rule template on disk for this CVE

4 manual-classification no-match A researcher's recorded decision for this specific CVE

5 manual classification no-match Manual classification of this CVE in the legacy dataset

6 non-java-upstream no-match A root cause in non-Java code: an OS kernel, a C library, or a bundled runtime

7 oracle-component no-match The defect being in a component of a tracked product the agent does not reach: JavaFX, the Java SE installer, the native WebLogic proxy plug-in. Oracle gives these no CPE of their own and names them only in the description.

8 osv-maven no-match An OSV.dev record of this CVE affecting a package published to Maven Central

9 cna-maven-package matched Queued for review CNA declares the affected component is a Maven artifact

10 known-cpe-product not-reached An NVD CPE naming a product ARMR tracks

11 cna-cpe-product not-reached A CPE the CNA published naming a tracked product. Oracle publishes these on advisory day, months before NVD.

12 oracle-advisory-family not-reached A tracked product family named in Oracle's own risk matrix. CPE cannot carry a suite name, only a module.

13 non-deployable-product not-reached The only affected product being a sealed appliance image, where Java runs but no -javaagent can be attached

14 unmatched-product not-reached No tracked product matched above, and none present at all

disposition: What do we do about one that is? cumulative: every rule gets a turn

15 patch-hint no-match A reference pointing at the upstream fix: a commit, a PR, a Red Hat bug

16 open-source-maven no-match The affected package being open source on Maven, so the fix can be read

17 poc-derivable no-match An indexed exploit to reverse-engineer, where there is no source to read

18 no-exploit matched No fix identified No public exploits or POCs found in Exploit-DB, Nuclei templates, or GitHub POC repositories, and CISA's Vulnrichment assessment records no demonstrated exploit. No upstream fix reference or open-source Maven package was found either, so there is nothing to act on from either direction.

19 secure-rule-match decided it matched Protected by RASP CWE-23 (Relative Path Traversal) is mitigable by an ARMR path-traversal security rule.

20 below-action-threshold skipped Medium or Low severity, no KEV listing, no PoC clearing the evidence bar, no CISA verdict, no Oracle advisory

21 no-exploit-published skipped A published working exploit for this candidate, not only a proof of concept, a forecast, or nothing at all

What the scope rules read

The products the record named, and whether known-products.yaml tracks them. This is the evidence the scope stage decided on.

Vendor Product Tracked CPE Source

apache ant not tracked cpe:2.3:a:apache:ant:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Raw stored JSON document for this CVE ↗ · NVD ↗ · CVE.org ↗