dbcve.org
Link Following (Symlink)Weakness · CWE-59

CVE-2026-8052

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
HashiCorp Nomad’s exec2 task driver prior to 0.1.2 is vulnerable to arbitrary file read and write on the client host as the Nomad process user through a symlink attack. This vulnerability (CVE-2026-8052) is fixed in version 0.1.2 of the exec2 task driver.

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

The exec2 task driver in HashiCorp Nomad versions prior to 0.1.2 contains a symlink attack vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with job submission privileges to read or write arbitrary files on the Nomad client host, executing with the privileges of the Nomad process user.

MitigationUpgrade the exec2 task driver to version 0.1.2 or later to remediate the vulnerability. Review job specifications to ensure no malicious symlinks are present in task directories.

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/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. Confirm the exec2 task driver is enabled
    Inspect the Nomad agent configuration file (typically at /etc/nomad.d/nomad.hcl or nomad.json) and look for the 'exec2' driver in the task_driver stanza, or run 'nomad node status' and check the Drivers column for exec2.
    Affected if The exec2 driver is listed as ready or enabled in the Nomad configuration.
  2. Verify the Nomad version
    Run 'nomad version' on the client node or check the installed package version (e.g., via 'apt list --installed | grep nomad' or 'yum list installed nomad').
    Affected if The installed version number is lower than 0.1.2 (for example, 0.1.0, 0.1.1, or any pre-0.1.2 release).
  3. Identify users with job submission privileges
    Review Nomad ACL policies by running 'nomad acl policy list' and inspect policies containing 'submit-job' or 'dispatch' capabilities, or check the default ACL token permissions.
    Affected if Any ACL policy or token grants job submission or dispatch capabilities to users other than trusted administrators.
  4. Inspect task directories for suspicious symlinks
    Review job specification files (HCL or JSON) submitted by users and examine any 'artifact' or 'template' stanzas that may create symlinks, or inspect the Nomad data directory (typically at /opt/nomad/data) for unexpected symbolic links in task working directories.
    Affected if Job specifications contain symlink creation commands or the task directories contain symbolic links pointing outside the expected task sandbox.

You are affected if the exec2 task driver is enabled, your Nomad version is below 0.1.2, and untrusted users have job submission capabilities that could create malicious symlinks.

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 the exec2 task driver to version 0.1.2 or later to remediate the vulnerability. Review job specifications to ensure no malicious symlinks are present in task directories.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

exec2 task driver version 0.1.2

  1. Identify the current version of the exec2 task driver in use by checking the Nomad client configuration
  2. Locate and download the exec2 task driver version 0.1.2 from the official HashiCorp releases
  3. Replace the existing exec2 task driver binary with version 0.1.2 on all Nomad client nodes
  4. Restart the Nomad client service on each affected node to load the updated driver
  5. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the driver version reports as 0.1.2
  6. Test that Nomad jobs using the exec2 driver function correctly after the upgrade

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-8052 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2026-8052 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data