{"id":"CVE-2026-121746","aliases":["EUVD-2026-117176","GHSA-8qjx-8r8m-mpqh"],"status":"published","title":"nvm use --save and nvm install --save write through a symlinked .nvmrc, overwriting any file the user can write","description":"Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.40.8, `nvm use --save` and `nvm install --save` (or `-w`) write the resolved version to `$PWD/.nvmrc` with `tee`, which follows a symbolic link. A repository that commits `.nvmrc` as a symlink to a path outside itself (git recreates the link on clone) therefore makes `--save` truncate any file the user can write, such as a shell startup file or `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, and replace its contents with the version string, or create the target of a dangling link; the link itself is left unchanged, so `git status` stays clean. The attacker does not control the content written, so this is data loss, not code execution. Version 0.41.0 refuses, with a warning, to write when `.nvmrc` in the current directory is a symlink, dangling or not, rather than writing through it or replacing it.","severity":{"version":"4.0","score":6.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"medium","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-12","score":0.00169,"percentile":0.0631,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-59"],"published":"2026-11-04T21:31:57Z","modified":"2026-11-09T20:42:28Z","products":[{"vendor":"nvm-sh","product":"nvm"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/security/advisories/GHSA-8qjx-8r8m-mpqh","tags":["vendor-advisory","exploit","advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/commit/3f8411e58d40b904e4ff6a96512391f56bd95bf7","tags":["patch","fix"]},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/121xxx/CVE-2026-121746.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-121746","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm","tags":["package"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2026-121746","title":"nvm use --save and nvm install --save write through a symlinked .nvmrc, overwriting any file the user can write","description":"Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.40.8, `nvm use --save` and `nvm install --save` (or `-w`) write the resolved version to `$PWD/.nvmrc` with `tee`, which follows a symbolic link. A repository that commits `.nvmrc` as a symlink to a path outside itself (git recreates the link on clone) therefore makes `--save` truncate any file the user can write, such as a shell startup file or `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, and replace its contents with the version string, or create the target of a dangling link; the link itself is left unchanged, so `git status` stays clean. The attacker does not control the content written, so this is data loss, not code execution. Version 0.41.0 refuses, with a warning, to write when `.nvmrc` in the current directory is a symlink, dangling or not, rather than writing through it or replacing it.","status":"published","published":"2026-11-04T21:31:57.022Z","modified":"2026-11-09T20:42:28.385Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":6.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"medium","assessor":"cna"},{"version":"3.1","score":5.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"medium","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-59"],"updated_at":"2026-11-09T21:34:55.043741Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2026-117176","description":"Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.40.8, `nvm use --save` and `nvm install --save` (or `-w`) write the resolved version to `$PWD/.nvmrc` with `tee`, which follows a symbolic link. A repository that commits `.nvmrc` as a symlink to a path outside itself (git recreates the link on clone) therefore makes `--save` truncate any file the user can write, such as a shell startup file or `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, and replace its contents with the version string, or create the target of a dangling link; the link itself is left unchanged, so `git status` stays clean. The attacker does not control the content written, so this is data loss, not code execution. Version 0.41.0 refuses, with a warning, to write when `.nvmrc` in the current directory is a symlink, dangling or not, rather than writing through it or replacing it.","status":"published","published":"2026-11-04T21:31:57Z","modified":"2026-11-09T20:42:28Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":6.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"medium"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-09T22:18:21.971974Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2026-121746","description":"Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.40.8, `nvm use --save` and `nvm install --save` (or `-w`) write the resolved version to `$PWD/.nvmrc` with `tee`, which follows a symbolic link. A repository that commits `.nvmrc` as a symlink to a path outside itself (git recreates the link on clone) therefore makes `--save` truncate any file the user can write, such as a shell startup file or `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, and replace its contents with the version string, or create the target of a dangling link; the link itself is left unchanged, so `git status` stays clean. The attacker does not control the content written, so this is data loss, not code execution. Version 0.41.0 refuses, with a warning, to write when `.nvmrc` in the current directory is a symlink, dangling or not, rather than writing through it or replacing it.","status":"published","published":"2026-11-04T22:17:54.16Z","modified":"2026-11-10T21:46:30.49Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":6.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X","level":"medium","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":5.5,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N","level":"medium","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-59"],"updated_at":"2026-11-09T23:16:04.854042Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2026-121746","title":"nvm use --save and nvm install --save write through a symlinked .nvmrc, overwriting any file the user can write","description":"Node Version Manager (nvm) is a POSIX-compliant shell function for managing multiple node.js versions. In versions 0.40.0 through 0.40.8, `nvm use --save` and `nvm install --save` (or `-w`) write the resolved version to `$PWD/.nvmrc` with `tee`, which follows a symbolic link. A repository that commits `.nvmrc` as a symlink to a path outside itself (git recreates the link on clone) therefore makes `--save` truncate any file the user can write, such as a shell startup file or `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, and replace its contents with the version string, or create the target of a dangling link; the link itself is left unchanged, so `git status` stays clean. The attacker does not control the content written, so this is data loss, not code execution. Version 0.41.0 refuses, with a warning, to write when `.nvmrc` in the current directory is a symlink, dangling or not, rather than writing through it or replacing it.","status":"published","published":"2026-11-04T21:31:57.022Z","modified":"2026-11-11T02:30:39.622507941Z","cvss":[{"version":"4.0","score":6.7,"vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N","level":"medium"}],"cwes":["CWE-59"],"updated_at":"2026-11-10T10:57:25.458985Z"}]}}