CVE-2026-41493: yard Path Traversal Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-3jfp-46x4-xgfj
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CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-41493 is a MODERATE path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting yard libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves possible arbitrary path traversal and file access via yard server. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.9.42.

CVE-2026-41493 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-41493
GHSA Identifier GHSA-3jfp-46x4-xgfj
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Affected Product yard
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix CVE-2026-41493

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

yard fixed: 0.9.42 
Upgrade yard to 0.9.42
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

inspect dependencies for yard

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2026-41493, inspect your project dependencies for yard:

inspect dependencies for yard

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of yard in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.9.42), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

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 yard, 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

### Impact A path traversal vulnerability was discovered in YARD <= 0.9.41 when using yard server to serve documentation. This bug would allow unsanitized HTTP requests to access arbitrary files on the machine of a yard server host under certain conditions. The original patch in [GHSA-xfhh-rx56-rxcr](https://github.com/lsegal/yard/security/advisories/GHSA-xfhh-rx56-rxcr) was incorrectly applied. ### Patches Please upgrade to YARD v0.9.42 immediately if you are relying on yard server to host documentation in any untrusted environments without WEBrick and rely on `--docroot`. ### Workarounds For users who cannot upgrade, it is possible to perform path sanitization of HTTP requests at your webserver level. WEBrick, for example, can perform such sanitization by default (which you can use via yard server -s webrick), as can certain rules in your webserver configuration.

CVE-2026-41493 Affected yard Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.9.42
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
yard
gem/yard
RubyGems
< 0.9.42
0.9.42

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/lsegal/yard/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfp-46x4-xgfj
NVD — CVE-2026-41493 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41493
yard Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/lsegal/yard
yard Release RELEASE
https://github.com/lsegal/yard/releases/tag/v0.9.42
yard Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/yard/CVE-2026-41493.yml

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-41493?
CVE-2026-41493 is a security vulnerability in yard involving Possible arbitrary path traversal and file access via yard server under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which yard versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.9.42 across affected packages: yard.
What version fixes CVE-2026-41493?
Upgrading to 0.9.42 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is yard affected?
Yes, yard is affected in releases prior to 0.9.42. Upgrade your dependency to 0.9.42 or later.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-41493?
CVE-2026-41493 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 RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2026-41493?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for yard'. 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
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-3jfp-46x4-xgfj",
  "modified" : "2026-06-09T10:55:28Z",
  "published" : "2026-04-17T22:21:03Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-41493" ],
  "summary" : "yard: Possible arbitrary path traversal and file access via yard server",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nA path traversal vulnerability was discovered in YARD <= 0.9.41 when using yard server to serve documentation. This bug would allow unsanitized HTTP requests to access arbitrary files on the machine of a yard server host under certain conditions.\n\nThe original patch in [GHSA-xfhh-rx56-rxcr](https://github.com/lsegal/yard/security/advisories/GHSA-xfhh-rx56-rxcr) was incorrectly applied.\n\n### Patches\n\nPlease upgrade to YARD v0.9.42 immediately if you are relying on yard server to host documentation in any untrusted environments without WEBrick and rely on `--docroot`.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nFor users who cannot upgrade, it is possible to perform path sanitization of HTTP requests at your webserver level. WEBrick, for example, can perform such sanitization by default (which you can use via yard server -s webrick), as can certain rules in your webserver configuration.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "yard"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.9.42"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/lsegal/yard/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfp-46x4-xgfj"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-41493"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/lsegal/yard"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/lsegal/yard/releases/tag/v0.9.42"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/rubysec/ruby-advisory-db/blob/master/gems/yard/CVE-2026-41493.yml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-17T22:21:03Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-05-08T14:16:33Z"
  }
}