Answer in brief
CVE-2026-42085 records a Medium severity (CVSS 4.3) vulnerability in OpenC3 COSMOS allows arbitrary writes to plugins directory via path-traversed config filenames. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps openc3 (rubygems), openc3 (rubygems). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 4.3. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps openc3 (rubygems), openc3 (rubygems). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| openc3rubygems | >=0 <6.10.5 | 6.10.5 |
| openc3rubygems | >=7.0.0.pre.rc1 <7.0.0-rc3 | 7.0.0-rc3 |
Published upstream
Apr 22, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Sep 10, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 8, 2026
### Summary OpenC3 COSMOS contains a design flaw in the `save_tool_config()` function that allows saving tool configuration files at arbitrary locations inside the shared `/plugins` directory tree by supplying crafted configuration filenames. Although the implementation sufficiently mitigates standard path traversal attacks, by canonicalizing filename to an absolute path, all plugins share this same root directory. That enables users to create arbitrary file structures and overwrite existing configuration files within the shared `/plugins` directory. ### Details In function `save_tool_config()` ([local_mode.rb](https://github.com/OpenC3/cosmos/blob/397abec0d57972881a2e8dc10902d0dce9c27f42/openc3/lib/openc3/utilities/local_mode.rb#L452)) responsible for saving user-supplied tool configuration, the desired saving directory is not sufficiently enforced, instead allowing writes inside entire `OPENC3_LOCAL_MODE_PATH`. ### PoC 1. Navigate to any tool that enables “Save Configuration” option in left-hand drop-down menu (here Limits Monitor as an example) 2. Save a new config with path traversal name using “../” sequences to escape desired directory (up to 3 levels high) 3. Observe new files created in /plugins directory by inspecting docker container directly (`openc3-COSMOS-cmd-tlm-api`) or using Bucket Explorer (`plugin_default`) <img width="811" height="584" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/015a59b4-8b18-4801-aef0-df4831d5c1c3" /> <img width="720" height="664" alt="image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8ca4a5b7-ee45-4c3b-99f6-f41f974a74a7" /> ### Impact Modifying the data of other plugins
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.