Vulnerability · Published Aug 18, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck
CVE-2026-75926Hugo 0.162.0 to 0.164.x - Node Permission Model Bypass via Default TailwindCSS Child-Process Grant
High 8.6
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw in hugo from gohugoio. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.3% (higher than 21% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
Hugo 0.161.0 placed the Node asset pipelines behind the Node.js permission model so that code running through PostCSS, Babel, or TailwindCSS could not reach the file system outside the project directory. Hugo 0.162.0 added tailwindcss to the AllowChildProcess default in config/security/securityConfig.go, which makes nodePermissionArgs in common/hexec/exec.go append --allow-child-process whenever the tool being launched is named tailwindcss. TailwindCSS loads the site's tailwind.config.js through require at startup, so top-level code in that file executes inside the permitted Node process and can call child_process to spawn a shell. The spawned process is not a Node process and inherits none of the permission flags, so it runs with the full privileges of the account performing the build. Building a site whose theme, module, or starter template supplies the Tailwind configuration therefore yields arbitrary command execution rather than the confined file access the permission model was introduced to enforce. Hugo 0.165.0 removes tailwindcss from the default security.exec.allow list, so the tool is no longer launched under the default configuration.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:14 | hugo | 0.165.0-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2026-75926 |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | hugo | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-75926 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | hugo | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-75926 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | hugo | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2026-75926 |
Affected products (as reported)
Weakness: CWE-1188 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/commit/8a55df7af2e6da31297245cc54fa2e3b521d93e8 patch
- https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/issues/15178 issue-tracking
- https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/blob/v0.164.0/config/security/securityConfig.go#L72-L79 technical-description
- https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo/blob/v0.164.0/common/hexec/exec.go#L292-L295 technical-description
- https://github.com/gohugoio/hugo product
- VulnCheck Advisory: Hugo 0.162.0 to 0.164.x - Node Permission Model Bypass via Default TailwindCSS Child-Process Grant third-party-advisory