CVE-2026-26217: Crawl4AI // URLs Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vx9w-5cx4-9796
CVSS 8.6
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-26217 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 8.6) // urls vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Crawl4AI libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves // urls. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.8.0.

CVE-2026-26217 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-26217
GHSA Identifier GHSA-vx9w-5cx4-9796
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.6
CWE Classification CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Affected Product Crawl4AI
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.6

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:C/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-26217

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Crawl4AI dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

Crawl4AI fixed: 0.8.0
pip install Crawl4AI>=0.8.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

pip show Crawl4AI

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2026-26217, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show Crawl4AI

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Crawl4AI in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.8.0), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show Crawl4AI command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'), where the product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. In Crawl4AI, 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

A local file inclusion vulnerability exists in the Crawl4AI Docker API. The /execute_js, /screenshot, /pdf, and /html endpoints accept file:// URLs, allowing attackers to read arbitrary files from the server filesystem. Attack Vector: ```json POST /execute_js { "url": "file:///etc/passwd", "scripts": ["document.body.innerText"] } ``` Impact An unauthenticated attacker can: - Read sensitive files (/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, application configs) - Access environment variables via /proc/self/environ - Discover internal application structure - Potentially read credentials and API keys Workarounds 1. Disable the Docker API 2. Add authentication to the API 3. Use network-level filtering

CVE-2026-26217 Affected Crawl4AI Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.8.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
Crawl4AI
PyPI
< 0.8.0
0.8.0

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-26217?
CVE-2026-26217 is a security vulnerability in Crawl4AI involving // URLs under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Crawl4AI versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.8.0 across affected packages: Crawl4AI.
What version fixes CVE-2026-26217?
Upgrading to 0.8.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is Crawl4AI affected?
Yes, Crawl4AI is affected in releases prior to 0.8.0. Upgrade your dependency to 0.8.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-26217?
CVE-2026-26217 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.6 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-26217?
CVE-2026-26217 is classified under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') (The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2026-26217?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show Crawl4AI'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-vx9w-5cx4-9796",
  "modified" : "2026-06-05T14:44:09Z",
  "published" : "2026-01-16T20:58:51Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-26217" ],
  "summary" : "Crawl4AI Has Local File Inclusion in Docker API via file:// URLs",
  "details" : "A local file inclusion vulnerability exists in the Crawl4AI Docker API. The /execute_js, /screenshot, /pdf, and /html endpoints accept file:// URLs, allowing attackers to read arbitrary files from the server filesystem.\n\nAttack Vector:\n```json\nPOST /execute_js\n{\n    \"url\": \"file:///etc/passwd\",\n    \"scripts\": [\"document.body.innerText\"]\n}\n```\nImpact\n\nAn unauthenticated attacker can:\n- Read sensitive files (/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, application configs)\n- Access environment variables via /proc/self/environ\n- Discover internal application structure\n- Potentially read credentials and API keys\n\nWorkarounds\n\n1. Disable the Docker API\n2. Add authentication to the API\n3. Use network-level filtering",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "Crawl4AI"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.8.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/security/advisories/GHSA-vx9w-5cx4-9796"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-26217"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/crawl4ai/PYSEC-2026-34.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/main/docs/blog/release-v0.8.0.md"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/release/v0.8.0/docs/blog/release-v0.8.0.md"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/unclecode/crawl4ai/blob/release/v0.8.0/docs/migration/v0.8.0-upgrade-guide.md"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/crawl4ai-docker-api-local-file-inclusion-via-file-url-handling"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-01-16T20:58:51Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-02-12T16:16:17Z"
  }
}