Skip to content
OpenAdvisories
High · 8.1 CVE-2026-118485 EUVD-2026-112024GHSA-gww9-3rx9-535x

Axel Download Accelerator Path Traversal via URL Filename Decoding

Published Oct 28, 2026 · Updated Nov 6, 2026 · Assigned by OCD

Description

Axel Download Accelerator 2.17.14 and earlier performs URL percent-decoding (http_decode()) on the output filename after the URL has been parsed and the filename component extracted. This allows an attacker to embed %2e%2e%2f (URL-encoded ../) sequences in the URL path. These sequences survive the URL parser intact (they contain no literal / characters) but are decoded into directory traversal sequences before the output file is opened for writing. As a result, a crafted URL can cause axel to write downloaded content to arbitrary filesystem paths relative to the current working directory.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
Axel Download Accelerator Axel — —

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 axel No fix yet —
Debian 13 axel No fix yet —
Debian 12 axel No fix yet —

References