CVE-2026-63328: Trivy: Path Traversal in Trivy Plugin Manager Allows Arbitrary File Write
Summary
Trivy's plugin manager does not fully validate metadata from a plugin's manifest before using it to construct filesystem paths under the plugin root (~/.trivy/plugins). A crafted plugin can cause Trivy to write its files (the manifest and the downloaded plugin binary) outside the plugin root, to an arbitrary location writable by the user running Trivy.
Plugins are third-party binaries that Trivy downloads and executes, so Trivy's documentation already advises installing only plugins you trust. This issue does not change that trust boundary: exploitation requires the user to install a malicious plugin in the first place.
Affected configurations
The vulnerability is triggered only when a user installs an attacker-controlled plugin, for example via trivy plugin install <SOURCE> or trivy plugin run <SOURCE>. An attacker has to trick a user into installing a plugin they crafted, for instance by publishing it or by getting a malicious source pasted into a command or documentation snippet.
Plugins distributed through the official Trivy plugin index are not affected.
Impact
A user who installs a malicious plugin can have files written outside the plugin root, to any location writable by the user running Trivy. The vulnerability does not grant any privileges beyond what that user already has.
Patches
Fixed in Trivy 0.72.0. Users should upgrade to that release or later.
Workarounds
Only install Trivy plugins from sources you trust. Plugins from the official Trivy plugin index are safe. See the plugin documentation for details.
Credits
Reported by @fatihhcelik.
Other sources
Trivy is a security scanner. Prior to 0.72.0, plugin manifest metadata is used by pkg/plugin/manager.go to construct paths under ~/.trivy/plugins without confining plugin names to that root, allowing an attacker who persuades a user to install or run a malicious plugin to write the manifest and plugin binary to arbitrary user-writable paths, while plugins from the official Trivy plugin index are not affected. This issue is fixed in version 0.72.0.
— MITRE
Affected Software
Remediation
Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.
- Upgrade
Upgrade
go/github.com/aquasecurity/trivyto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 0.72.0 - Upgrade
Upgrade
Trivyto a version that resolves this vulnerability.Fixed in 0.72.0 - Configuration
Only install and use Trivy plugins from sources you trust (plugins are third-party binaries downloaded and executed by Trivy).
Trivy plugins trusted plugin sources only = enabled
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is realistically exposed to this issue?
Users running Trivy versions earlier than 0.72.0 are exposed only if they install or run a malicious plugin. Plugins obtained from the official Trivy plugin index are not affected.
What does an attacker need to exploit the vulnerability?
An attacker must persuade the user to install or run a malicious plugin whose manifest contains crafted plugin metadata. The crafted metadata can cause the manifest and plugin binary to be written to arbitrary paths that the user can write to.
What should teams do if they cannot patch immediately?
Upgrade Trivy to version 0.72.0. If upgrading is not immediately possible, avoid installing or running plugins outside the official Trivy plugin index.