Copier is a library and CLI app for rendering project templates. Prior to version 9.11.2, Copier suggests that it's safe to generate a project from a safe template, i.e. one that doesn't use unsafe features like custom Jinja extensions which would require passing the `--UNSAFE,--trust` flag. As it turns out, a safe template can currently write to arbitrary directories outside the destination path by using directory a symlink along with `_preserve_symlinks: true` and a generated directory structure whose rendered path is inside the symlinked directory. This way, a malicious template author can create a template that overwrites arbitrary files (according to the user's write permissions), e.g., to cause havoc. Version 9.11.2 patches the issue.
Metrics
Affected Vendors & Products
Advisories
| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
Github GHSA |
GHSA-4fqp-r85r-hxqh | Copier safe template has arbitrary filesystem write access via directory symlinks when _preserve_symlinks: true |
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Thu, 22 Jan 2026 07:30:00 +0900
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Copier is a library and CLI app for rendering project templates. Prior to version 9.11.2, Copier suggests that it's safe to generate a project from a safe template, i.e. one that doesn't use unsafe features like custom Jinja extensions which would require passing the `--UNSAFE,--trust` flag. As it turns out, a safe template can currently write to arbitrary directories outside the destination path by using directory a symlink along with `_preserve_symlinks: true` and a generated directory structure whose rendered path is inside the symlinked directory. This way, a malicious template author can create a template that overwrites arbitrary files (according to the user's write permissions), e.g., to cause havoc. Version 9.11.2 patches the issue. | |
| Title | Copier safe template has arbitrary filesystem write access via directory symlinks when _preserve_symlinks: true | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-61 | |
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
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Projects
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: GitHub_M
Published:
Updated: 2026-01-21T22:20:37.720Z
Reserved: 2026-01-19T18:49:20.656Z
Link: CVE-2026-23986
No data.
Status : Received
Published: 2026-01-21T23:15:52.793
Modified: 2026-01-21T23:15:52.793
Link: CVE-2026-23986
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
Github GHSA