Algernon: Unauthenticated path traversal authorization bypass (CVE-2026-68548)
Algernon web server uses case-sensitive authorization checks that can be bypassed on case-insensitive filesystems, allowing unauthorized access to protected paths.
CVE search metadata
CVE search record: CVE-2026-68548. Severity: critical. CVSS: 9.4. KEV: no. Product: Algernon. Brief: Algernon: Unauthenticated path traversal authorization bypass (CVE-2026-68548). Brief link: https://feed.craftedsignal.io/briefs/2026-11-algernon-path-traversal-cve-2026-68548/
Triage facts
Revision 1- Applicability
- Algernon
- Evidence
- Unknown
- Severity
- Critical
- Sources
- 1 public source
- Freshness
- Revision 1Nov 12, 22:52 UTC
- Vulnerabilities
- 1 CVE
- Source quality
- A2Roughly even chance
Algernon is a self-contained Go web server that uses case-sensitive string matching for URL-prefix authorization gates. On case-insensitive filesystems such as Windows NTFS and macOS APFS/HFS+, a request using mixed-case characters can evade these checks and resolve to protected directories on the filesystem.
Impact
This vulnerability allows an unauthenticated bypass of authorization boundaries for the /admin, /repo, and /data paths, enabling unauthorized reading or execution of protected content.
Recommendation
Upgrade the Algernon web server to version 1.17.10, where this issue has been addressed.