{"id":"CVE-2026-122137","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-122137"],"related":[],"title":"Powerlevel10k: insecure temp directory lets local user replace gitstatusd binary","description":"Powerlevel10k before 1.20.19 contains an insecure temporary directory vulnerability in the bundled gitstatus/install script that reuses attacker-creatable directories when mktemp fails. Local attackers can pre-create the predictable gitstatus-install.tmp directory to replace the extracted gitstatusd binary, which then executes with the victim's privileges.","summary":"Powerlevel10k's bundled gitstatus install script reuses a predictable temporary directory when mktemp fails. A local attacker who pre-creates that directory can swap in their own gitstatusd binary, which then runs with the victim's privileges.","severity":"medium","cvss":6.7,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["package","powerlevel10k","shell-config","zsh"],"not_affected_if":["powerlevel10k-not-installed","single-user-machine"],"how_to_check":"- Check the installed Powerlevel10k version (`p10k version` or the theme's git tag) and see whether it is below `1.20.19`.\n- Look for a `gitstatus-install.tmp` directory in the system temp location on shared or multi-user machines.","fix":"- Powerlevel10k: move to `1.20.19` or later.","status":"open","published_at":"2026-11-04T21:18:09+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-04T21:49:20+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-11-04T21:51:06+00:00","updated_at":"2026-11-04T21:51:06+00:00","category":"package","confidence":0.7,"triage":{"at":"2026-11-04T21:51:06Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"- Powerlevel10k: move to `1.20.19` or later.","reach":"local","title":"Powerlevel10k: insecure temp directory lets local user replace gitstatusd binary","impact":"high","summary":"Powerlevel10k's bundled gitstatus install script reuses a predictable temporary directory when mktemp fails. A local attacker who pre-creates that directory can swap in their own gitstatusd binary, which then runs with the victim's privileges.","audience":"developers","category":"package","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["powerlevel10k","zsh","shell-config"],"confidence":0.7,"fix_status":"available","needs_auth":"no","worst_case":"local user runs code as the victim","analyst_note":"","how_to_check":"- Check the installed Powerlevel10k version (`p10k version` or the theme's git tag) and see whether it is below `1.20.19`.\n- Look for a `gitstatus-install.tmp` directory in the system temp location on shared or multi-user machines.","plain_action":"","needs_analyst":false,"not_affected_if":["single-user-machine","powerlevel10k-not-installed"],"who_is_affected":"Anyone who installs or updates Powerlevel10k's gitstatus component on a machine where another local user can write to the temp directory, such as a shared server or multi-user workstation. Single-user machines where only the owner has access are much less exposed. Teams that do not use Powerlevel10k can skip it.","user_interaction":"unknown","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"medium"},"cost_usd":0.000691,"input_tokens":4202,"output_tokens":541,"severity_before":"medium"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-122137':13A,16A '-2026':12A,15A '1.20.19':63C 'attack':39B,78C,85C 'attacker-creat':77C 'binari':10A,52B,99C 'bundl':25B,72C 'config':21B 'contain':64C 'creat':43B,89C 'creatabl':79C 'cve':11A,14A 'directori':4A,33B,45B,68C,80C,93C 'execut':102C 'extract':97C 'fail':36B,83C 'gitstatus':26B 'gitstatus-install.tmp':92C 'gitstatus/install':73C 'gitstatusd':9A,51B,98C 'insecur':2A,66C 'instal':27B 'let':5A 'local':6A,38B,84C 'mktemp':35B,82C 'packag':17B 'powerlevel10k':1A,18B,23B,61C 'pre':42B,88C 'pre-creat':41B,87C 'predict':31B,91C 'privileg':60B,107C 'replac':8A,95C 'reus':29B,76C 'run':55B 'script':28B,74C 'shell':20B 'shell-config':19B 'swap':47B 'temp':3A 'temporari':32B,67C 'user':7A 'victim':58B,105C 'vulner':69C 'zsh':22B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Anyone who installs or updates Powerlevel10k's gitstatus component on a machine where another local user can write to the temp directory, such as a shared server or multi-user workstation. Single-user machines where only the owner has access are much less exposed. Teams that do not use Powerlevel10k can skip it.","tier":"C","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"fix_status":"available","audience":"developers","plain_action":null,"pkeys":[],"ptokens":[],"labels":["medium","package","powerlevel10k","shellconfig","zsh"],"campaign_type":null,"first_public_at":"2026-11-04T21:18:09+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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","cvss_by":"disclosure@vulncheck.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-122137","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-122137","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-11-04T21:18:09+00:00","modified_at":"2026-11-04T21:18:09+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-11-04T21:49:20+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-11-04T21:49:20+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[{"id":70673,"url":"https://github.com/romkatv/gitstatus/commit/5433ecbb9a572d6c92be9feb33642395fccc782b","title":"Patch: github.com","kind":"other","source":"nvd","publisher":"vendor","text":null,"published_at":null,"relation":"fix","confidence":null,"note":"Patch: github.com"},{"id":70674,"url":"https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k/commit/98bd39fd335e3f9f560e48e5c1957cb2a6a212c4","title":"Patch: github.com","kind":"other","source":"nvd","publisher":"vendor","text":null,"published_at":null,"relation":"fix","confidence":null,"note":"Patch: github.com"},{"id":70675,"url":"https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/powerlevel10k-before-1.20.19-insecure-temporary-directory-via-gitstatus-installer","title":"Third-party advisory: www.vulncheck.com","kind":"advisory","source":"nvd","publisher":"research","text":null,"published_at":null,"relation":"advisory","confidence":null,"note":"Third-party advisory: www.vulncheck.com"}],"exploit_sources":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}