CVE-2026-81838 - Zip Slip path traversal in awsdac (diagram-as-code)

CVE-2026-81838 - Zip Slip path traversal in awsdac (diagram-as-code)

Bulletin ID: 2026-090-AWS
Scope: AWS
Content Type: Important (requires attention)
Publication Date: 08/27/2026 13:00 PM PDT
Last Updated: 08/28/2026 09:30 AM PDT

awsdac (diagram-as-code) is a CLI tool that generates AWS architecture diagrams from YAML definitions, enabling version-controlled, code-driven diagramming. We identified CVE-2026-81838, a Zip Slip (path traversal) issue. When awsdac extracts a zip archive referenced by a ZipFile resource in a definition file, a crafted archive can write files outside the intended cache directory, to any path writable by the user running awsdac. Depending on the file written, this can lead to arbitrary code execution.

Leveraging this issue requires processing a definition file from an untrusted source. This can occur when:

CI/CD environments that process definition files from untrusted or semi-trusted sources are the primary risk scenario.

awsdac is a client-side CLI tool that renders architecture diagrams locally. This issue does not affect any AWS service, AWS account, or customer data. The impact is limited to the machine on which awsdac runs.

Impacted versions: awsdac: versions 0.10 through 0.23 (inclusive)

This issue has been addressed in version 0.24. We recommend upgrading to the latest version and ensuring any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes.