Classroom 50 vulnerable to arbitrary file overwrite on the teacher's machine via symlink in a student repo (gh teacher download)
Published Oct 1, 2026
9.4
CRITICALCVSS 4.0
Description
Classroom 50 is a free and open-source tool for managing and grading programming assignments via GitHub. Prior to version 1.11.0, `gh teacher download` clones each student's assignment repository and then writes autograde artifacts (`result.json` and `results.json`) into the just-cloned working tree. The write followed symlinks, so a student who committed `result.json` or `results.json` as a **symlink** (materialized verbatim by `git clone`) could redirect the teacher's write to an arbitrary path — e.g. `~/.zshrc`, `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`, a cron file, or an in-clone `.git/hooks/*` file that git subsequently executes. The written bytes are attacker-controlled (the student's uploaded release asset for `result.json`; student-chosen submit-tag names for `results.json`). This is an arbitrary file write leading to code execution as the teacher, whose `gh` token carries `admin:org`, `repo`, and `workflow` across the entire classroom organization. Version 1.11.0 contains a patch. Some workarounds are available. Avoid running `gh teacher download` against untrusted student repositories, or run it inside a disposable sandbox / container with no access to sensitive host files or credentials. Inspect cloned trees for symlinked, hardlinked, or special (`result.json`/`results.json`) entries before allowing the artifact-refresh step to run.
Affected products
-
- Version < 1.11.0StatusaffectedConstraints-
- Version
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation50 | Classroom50 | n/a |
|
No data.
No data.
No Red Hat product state for this CVE.
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
No remediation recorded yet.
Metrics
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
No CVSS v3.1 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v3.0 score for this CVE.
No CVSS v2.0 score for this CVE.
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
CISA SSVC (Vulnrichment)
Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization from CISA ADP.
Exploitation
NoneAutomatable
NoTechnical Impact
TotalDecision
n/aAssessed Oct 1, 2026 · SSVC 2.0.3
No EPSS score for this CVE.
References (2)
- https://github.com/foundation50/classroom50/commit/79112f33932d1b5c398a8801d97a8813d52d55ce x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/foundation50/classroom50/security/advisories/GHSA-qx2g-vpwq-466c x_refsource_CONFIRM
| Link | Providers | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| https://github.com/foundation50/classroom50/commit/79112f33932d1b5c398a8801d97a8813d52d55ce | x_refsource_MISC | |
| https://github.com/foundation50/classroom50/security/advisories/GHSA-qx2g-vpwq-466c | x_refsource_CONFIRM |
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.