Banks: Arbitrary File Read via Path Traversal in Media Filters (image/audio/video/document)
masci · banks
Official source article: GitHub GHSA-98RR-GVC9-3CJH ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
7.5HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Patch only the product branches with a verified fix
High technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance. Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 4 structured product or package states remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:Critical, raised one band.upgradedsince 30 Jul 2026
Evidence used
No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
EPSS is 0.50% for the current model date.
Compensating controls
Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.
Verification
Confirm that the asset runs masci banks and falls inside the recorded affected range.
Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Cross-source reconciliation
Remediation availability differs by product scope
Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 4 structured product or package states remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
Red Hat Product Security: 4 affected or under-investigation product states without a fixed product state in the same current advisory
Direct vendor intelligence
Authoritative vendor CSAF and VEX advisories
Structured product status and remediation from the issuing vendor. Product-state explanations are always visible; large lists can be searched or downloaded.
1 current
CVE-2026-62663 · CSAF 2.0 · revision 3 · finalRed Hat Product Securitybanks: Banks: Information Disclosure via Path Traversal in Media Filters
4 known affected
The vendor explicitly identifies these products as affected by this CVE.
exploit-intelligence-tech-preview/vulnerability-analysis-rhel9 as a component of Exploit Intelligence
lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cpu-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core
lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cuda-12.9-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core
ansible-automation-platform-25/lightspeed-chatbot-rhel8 as a component of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
Summary
A flaw was found in Banks. An attacker who can control template variables processed by Banks can exploit a path traversal vulnerability in the media filters (image, audio, video, document). This allows the attacker to read arbitrary files on the system where Banks is running, such as sensitive configuration files or credentials. The content of these files can then be exfiltrated, leading to unauthorized information disclosure.
Remediation
Applications utilizing the `banks` library should ensure that any file paths provided to its media filters are from trusted sources or are rigorously sanitized to prevent path traversal sequences (e.g., `../`). Additionally, restrict the file system permissions of the process running `banks` to only necessary directories to limit the impact of successful exploitation.
Optional official sources
National CERT insights ?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.
Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.
Official European source
ENISA European Vulnerability Database
Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.
1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier
EUVD-2026-51231
No EUVD known-exploited evidence
ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.
EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionPatch only the product branches with a verified fix
High technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance. Verified remediation exists for at least one product or source, but 4 structured product or package states remain unresolved. Apply remediation only to the exact product branch confirmed by its source.
Fix availability varies by product
01
What, why and how
Banks generates meaningful LLM prompts using a simple template language. In versions prior to 2.4.4, all four media filters (image, audio, video, document) in banks accept untrusted user input as file paths via Path(value) and pass them directly to open(file_path, "rb") without any path sanitization, canonicalization, or directory restriction. An attacker who controls template variables passed to a banks Prompt can use path traversal (../) to read arbitrary files accessible to the Python process—including .env files, SSH keys, cloud credentials, source code, /etc/passwd, and /etc/shadow—with the content returned base64-encoded in the rendered prompt output, making exfiltration trivial. This is particularly dangerous for applications that use banks to process user-provided template variables before sending prompts to an LLM. This issue has been fixed in version 2.4.4.
What
Banks generates meaningful LLM prompts using a simple template language. In versions prior to 2.4.4, all four media filters (image, audio, video, document) in banks accept untrusted user input as file paths via Path(value) and pass them directly to open(file_path, "rb") without any path sanitization, canonicalization, or directory restriction. An attacker who controls template variables passed to a banks Prompt can use path traversal (../) to read arbitrary files accessible to the Python process—including .env files, SSH keys, cloud credentials, source code, /etc/passwd, and /etc/shadow—with the content returned base64-encoded in the rendered prompt output, making exfiltration trivial. This is particularly dangerous for applications that use banks to process user-provided template variables before sending prompts to an LLM. This issue has been fixed in version 2.4.4.
Why
Attacker-controlled path data is not constrained to the intended directory before the application accesses a file.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.
What
Banks generates meaningful LLM prompts using a simple template language. In versions prior to 2.4.4, all four media filters (image, audio, video, document) in banks accept untrusted user input as file paths via Path(value) and pass them directly to open(file_path, "rb") without any path sanitization, canonicalization, or directory restriction. An attacker who controls template variables passed to a banks Prompt can use path traversal (../) to read arbitrary files accessible to the Python process—including .env files, SSH keys, cloud credentials, source code, /etc/passwd, and /etc/shadow—with the content returned base64-encoded in the rendered prompt output, making exfiltration trivial. This is particularly dangerous for applications that use banks to process user-provided template variables before sending prompts to an LLM. This issue has been fixed in version 2.4.4.
Why
Attacker-controlled path data is not constrained to the intended directory before the application accesses a file.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No confirmed evidence
No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material ?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.Reference recorded
CISA Vulnrichment records proof-of-concept exploitation in its SSVC data. BlackTree has not independently executed or validated exploit material.
Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') → obtain information outside the intended access boundary
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness ?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'). The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
CVSS vector ?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-51231Official EUVD mapping
0 linked advisory records.
Official EUVD record ↗Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20260805Security Bulletin 5 Aug 2026
The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 5 Aug 2026, published on 5 August 2026. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
Status ?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Use the product-specific evidence above. Patch only products with a verified fixed release, and keep every affected or under-investigation state without a matching fix in the remediation queue.
Workaround
Applications utilizing the `banks` library should ensure that any file paths provided to its media filters are from trusted sources or are rigorously sanitized to prevent path traversal sequences (e.g., `../`). Additionally, restrict the file system permissions of the process running `banks` to only necessary directories to limit the impact of successful exploitation.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 30 Jul 2026 · Last source change 30 Jul 2026, 17:38 UTC · CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source ?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-51231
Product sourceVendor CSAF · Red Hat Product Security
Remediation sourceVendor CSAF · Red Hat Product Security
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD not scheduled
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
exploit-intelligence-tech-preview/vulnerability-analysis-rhel9 as a component of Exploit Intelligence; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cpu-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cuda-12.9-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; openshift-lightspeed-tech-preview/lightspeed-rag-tool-rhel9 as a component of OpenShift Lightspeed; ansible-automation-platform-25/lightspeed-chatbot-rhel8 as a component of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
After
exploit-intelligence-tech-preview/vulnerability-analysis-rhel9 as a component of Exploit Intelligence; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cpu-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cuda-12.9-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; ansible-automation-platform-25/lightspeed-chatbot-rhel8 as a component of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
Before
exploit-intelligence-tech-preview/vulnerability-analysis-rhel9 as a component of Exploit Intelligence; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cpu-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cuda-12.9-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; openshift-lightspeed-tech-preview/lightspeed-rag-tool-rhel9 as a component of OpenShift Lightspeed; openshift-lightspeed/lightspeed-ocp-rag-rhel9 as a component of OpenShift Lightspeed; ansible-automation-platform-25/lightspeed-chatbot-rhel8 as a component of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
After
exploit-intelligence-tech-preview/vulnerability-analysis-rhel9 as a component of Exploit Intelligence; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cpu-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; lightspeed-core/rag-tool-cuda-12.9-rhel9 as a component of Lightspeed Core; openshift-lightspeed-tech-preview/lightspeed-rag-tool-rhel9 as a component of OpenShift Lightspeed; ansible-automation-platform-25/lightspeed-chatbot-rhel8 as a component of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.