dbcve.org
Path TraversalWeakness · CWE-22

CVE-2026-41693

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
91/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
i18next-fs-backend is a backend layer for i18next using in Node.js and for Deno to load translations from the filesystem. Prior to version 2.6.4, i18next-fs-backend substitutes the lng and ns options directly into the configured loadPath / addPath templates and then read / write the resulting file from disk. The interpolation is unencoded and unvalidated, so a crafted lng or ns value — containing .., a path separator, a control character, a prototype key, or simply an unexpectedly long string — allows an attacker who can influence either value to read or overwrite files outside the intended locale directory. When lng / ns are derived from untrusted input (request-scoped i18next instances behind an HTTP layer such as i18next-http-middleware, or any framework that lets the end user pick the language via query string, cookie, or header), a single request such as ?lng=../../../../etc/passwd causes the backend to attempt to read that path. This issue has been patched in version 2.6.4.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

i18next-fs-backend versions before 2.6.4 suffer from a path traversal vulnerability where lng and ns options are directly interpolated into file path templates without encoding or validation. Attackers can supply malicious values containing ../ sequences to read or write files outside the intended locale directory, such as ?lng=../../../../etc/passwd.

MitigationUpgrade to version 2.6.4 or later. If upgrade is not immediately possible, validate and sanitize lng/ns parameters to reject path traversal sequences (..), control characters, and unexpected patterns before they reach the backend.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed i18next-fs-backend version
    Run 'npm list i18next-fs-backend' or check package.json dependencies to see the exact version installed
    Affected if version is below 2.6.4 (e.g., 2.6.3, 2.6.0, 2.5.0, etc.)
  2. Verify i18next configuration uses fs-backend
    Examine your i18next initialization code and look for 'i18next-fs-backend' in the backend configuration section (the 'backend' option with 'loadPath' template)
    Affected if the fs-backend module is configured as the i18next backend
  3. Inspect how lng and ns parameters reach the backend
    Search your codebase for where i18next's 'changeLanguage' or 'loadNamespace' is called, and trace whether the lng/ns arguments come directly from HTTP request parameters (req.params, req.query, body) without sanitization
    Affected if lng or ns values are passed from untrusted user input without validation
  4. Test for path traversal in lng parameter
    Temporarily make a request to your i18next endpoint with lng=../../../../etc/passwd (or similar) and observe if the response reveals file contents outside your locale directory
    Affected if the backend returns content from files outside the intended locales folder (path traversal succeeds)

You are affected if i18next-fs-backend version is below 2.6.4 AND your application passes unsanitized lng/ns parameters from user requests to the backend, allowing attackers to use ../ sequences to access arbitrary files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to version 2.6.4 or later. If upgrade is not immediately possible, validate and sanitize lng/ns parameters to reject path traversal sequences (..), control characters, and unexpected patterns before they reach the backend.

Recommended fix High confidence

i18next-fs-backend version 2.6.4 or later

  1. Check the current version of i18next-fs-backend in your project (e.g., npm list i18next-fs-backend)
  2. Upgrade to version 2.6.4 or later (e.g., npm install [email protected] or npm install i18next-fs-backend@latest)
  3. Test that translations load and save correctly after the upgrade to verify functionality is intact

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-41693 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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