CVE-2026-95627

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-95627 is a scope-expansion flaw in the Tauri framework's dialog plugin, where file or folder picker interactions can be coerced into granting recursive read/write access to an entire directory tree after a single user click on a normal-looking OS dialog. Applications built on Tauri that rely on the dialog plugin's file/folder picker and expose any JavaScript-execution vector (e.g., XSS) are affected. Successful exploitation results in silent, non-revocable filesystem access expansion for the lifetime of the application, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.7 (High).

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability class is CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource). The flaw is specific to the Tauri dialog plugin's file or folder picker functionality. Per the NVD description, when a Tauri application uses the dialog plugin's file or folder picker, an attacker who already has JavaScript execution (for example, via an XSS condition in the application's front end) can force the scope expansion to be recursive. This means that the permission granted by a single user interaction with a normal-looking OS file dialog is elevated from a single file or folder selection to the entire directory tree.

The security-relevant characteristics are:

• Prerequisite: Attacker-controlled JavaScript execution within the Tauri application context. This is not a remote unauthenticated primitive by itself; the attack vector is network-based (AV:N) but requires high attack complexity (AC:H) and low privileges (PR:L), and it requires user interaction (UI:R) — specifically a click on what appears to be a normal OS file dialog.
• Mechanism: The scope expansion is made recursive by the attacker, rather than being limited to the user-selected resource. The core defect is in how the dialog plugin assigns and persists permissions to the selected path — the assignment is broader than intended and is not bounded to the user's selection.
• Transparency failure: The user receives no indication that recursive access was granted. The dialog is described as "normal-looking," so the victim has no basis to suspect elevated permissions.
• Persistence failure: The expanded scope cannot be revoked for the lifetime of the application. There is no described runtime mechanism to narrow or rescind the grant once established.

No public proof-of-concept, exploit code, or Nuclei template is available for this CVE. No affected version range or CNA title was published with the data provided. No patch evidence exists from any tracked source. Because the announcement is sparse, the exact code path within the dialog plugin, the specific API calls, and the precise permission-vector format are not described and must not be assumed. The analysis above is constrained to what the NVD description explicitly states: a Tauri dialog plugin file/folder picker, recursive scope expansion, no user indication, and non-revocable scope for the application lifetime.

Exploitation Scenarios

No public PoC is available; the attack chain below is inferred from the vulnerability class and the NVD description only.

1. Reconnaissance / target identification. The attacker identifies a Tauri-based application that uses the dialog plugin's file or folder picker. Any Tauri application whose front end processes untrusted input and can be induced to execute attacker-supplied JavaScript is a candidate. The attacker does not need filesystem access or credentials to begin — only a JavaScript-execution foothold in the application's webview.

2. Triggering the specific flaw class. The attacker obtains JavaScript execution (XSS) in the application context. Through that execution, the attacker forces the scope expansion for the file or folder picker to be recursive. Because the flaw is in how the dialog plugin assigns scope after the user's selection, the attacker's script influences the scope parameters associated with the picker operation rather than the user's own choice.

3. User-interaction and execution. The attacker presents what appears to be a normal OS file dialog. The victim performs a single click — the interaction the application legitimately expects. Upon that click, the scope grant is applied recursively rather than to the selected item alone, granting read/write access to the entire directory tree. The user is given no indication that recursive access was granted.

4. Post-exploitation impact. The attacker's JavaScript, now benefiting from the expanded scope, can read and write across the granted directory tree via the application's file APIs. The grant persists for the lifetime of the application and cannot be revoked. This enables data exfiltration, modification or destruction of files within the tree, and potential further compromise of the host or adjacent systems depending on the application's own privileges and the sensitivity of files under that tree.

Impact Assessment

The CVSS v3.1 vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N yields a base score of 7.7 (High).

• Confidentiality: High (C:H). Recursive read access to an entire directory tree can expose all files within it, including sensitive application data, configuration, and user documents, depending on the application's privileges.
• Integrity: High (I:H). Recursive write access allows modification, corruption, or replacement of any file within the expanded tree, including tampering with application components or user data.
• Availability: None (A:N) per the vector. The described mechanism does not directly target availability, although destructive writes within the granted scope are a practical availability risk.
• Scope: Changed (S:C). The vulnerability allows the attacker to affect resources beyond the security scope of the vulnerable component, consistent with permission expansion beyond the user's intended selection.
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N); Complexity: High (AC:H); Privileges Required: Low (PR:L); User Interaction: Required (UI:R). Exploitation requires an existing JavaScript-execution foothold and a user click on a legitimate-looking dialog, which constrains mass exploitation but is realistic in applications that render untrusted content.

Blast radius. Any Tauri application that exposes the dialog plugin's file/folder picker and where an XSS-like condition can be induced is in scope. The non-revocable nature of the grant means the exposure persists for the entire application session — there is no recovery step short of terminating the application. Because the directory tree is granted recursively, the impact scales with the sensitivity of the path the user believes they are selecting. No affected-version list, no vendor advisory, and no known exploitation in the wild were provided; CISA KEV status is NO.

Detection Guidance

Sigma Rule

Detection focuses on process/file telemetry where a desktop application abruptly accesses a broad directory subtree following a file-dialog interaction. Because Tauri applications present client-side telemetry inconsistently, this rule targets the endpoint and is a best-effort approximation.

title: Potential Tauri Dialog Plugin Recursive Scope Expansion Abuse
id: 3f7c9b21-6d4a-4e8b-9c1f-2a5d7e6b0c14
status: experimental
description: Detects Tauri-based applications performing recursive file access immediately after file dialog interaction, consistent with CVE-2026-95627 scope expansion abuse.
references:
  - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-95627
author: valtersit.com
date: 2026/01/01
tags:
  - attack.t1190
  - cve.2026-95627
logsource:
  category: file_event
  product: windows
detection:
  selection_app:
    Image|endswith:
      - '.exe'
  selection_paths:
    TargetFilename|contains:
      - '\\Documents\\'
      - '\\Desktop\\'
      - '\\AppData\\'
      - '\\ProgramData\\'
  timeframe: 30s
  condition: selection_paths | count() by Image > 50
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate bulk file operations by backup or sync tools
  - Developer tooling that indexes directories
level: medium

YARA Rule

This rule detects Tauri dialog plugin artifacts and strings associated with recursive scope configuration within bundled application resources. It is heuristic and may match benign Tauri applications that legitimately use recursive scope.

rule CVE_2026_95627_Tauri_Dialog_Recursive_Scope
{
    meta:
        description = "Detects indicators of Tauri dialog plugin recursive scope expansion abuse (CVE-2026-95627)"
        author = "valtersit.com"
        date = "2026-01-01"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-95627"
        severity = "high"

    strings:
        $tauri = "tauri" ascii nocase
        $dialog = "dialog" ascii nocase
        $picker = "file_picker" ascii nocase
        $folder = "folder_picker" ascii nocase
        $recursive = "recursive" ascii nocase
        $scope = "scope" ascii nocase
        $expand = "expand" ascii nocase

    condition:
        (uint32(0) == 0x464c457f or uint16(0) == 0x5a4d) and
        $tauri and
        ($dialog or $picker or $folder) and
        ($recursive and $scope) or $expand
}

Suricata IDS Rule

Tauri dialog plugin interactions are normally local and do not traverse the network; the rule below targets the C2/exfiltration phase that could follow exploitation — external HTTP POSTs from an application process carrying file-like payloads after a dialog interaction window.

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2026-95627 Possible Tauri Scope Abuse Data Exfiltration"; flow:established,to_server; http.method; content:"POST"; http.header; content:"Content-Type|3a| multipart/form-data"; pcre:"/(?i)(tauri|wry|webview2)/"; filestore; threshold:type both, track by_src, count 5, seconds 60; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:900956270; rev:1;)

Note: No server-side, protocol-level signature can directly observe the client-side scope expansion described in CVE-2026-95627. The rule above is a post-exploitation heuristic and should be tuned to the environment; it may produce false positives for legitimate uploads.

Elastic Detection

EQL query targeting endpoint file events indicating abnormal recursive access within a short window from a single process.

sequence by process.entity_id with maxspan=30s
  [ file where event.action in ("creation", "modification", "access") and
      file.path : ("*\\Documents\\*", "*\\Desktop\\*", "*\\AppData\\*", "*\\ProgramData\\*") ]
  [ file where event.action in ("creation", "modification", "access") and
      file.path : ("*\\Documents\\*", "*\\Desktop\\*", "*\\AppData\\*", "*\\ProgramData\\*") ]

This detects rapid, repeated file activity consistent with recursive traversal following dialog interaction. It relies on endpoint telemetry and is a heuristic.

Splunk SPL Query

Detects a burst of file access events from a single process following a dialog-related event, consistent with recursive scope expansion.

index=endpoint (sourcetype=XmlWinEventLog:Microsoft-Windows-Sysmon/Operational OR sourcetype=WinEventLog:Security)
(EventCode=11 OR EventCode=4663)
| eval path=coalesce(TargetFilename, ObjectName)
| where match(path, "(?i)(Documents|Desktop|AppData|ProgramData)")
| bin _time span=30s
| stats count dc(path) as distinct_paths values(process_name) as procs by _time, ComputerName, process_name
| where count > 50 AND distinct_paths > 25
| table _time, ComputerName, process_name, count, distinct_paths
| sort - count

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

Wazuh rule to alert on broad file access by a desktop application within a short window.

<group name="cve_2026_95627,tauri,">
  <rule id="100956" level="10" frequency="50" timeframe="60">
    <if_matched_sid>550</if_matched_sid>
    <match>Documents|Desktop|AppData|ProgramData</match>
    <description>CVE-2026-95627: Possible Tauri dialog recursive scope abuse - excessive file access by single process</description>
    <mitre>
      <id>T1190</id>
    </mitre>
  </rule>
</group>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch confidence: 0/4 (UNPATCHED — no patch evidence from any tracked source). No vendor fix, workaround, or affected-version data was published with this CVE.

1. Immediate mitigations.

   • Eliminate JavaScript-execution (XSS) vectors in Tauri front ends. Enforce a strict Content Security Policy, sanitize untrusted input rendered in the webview, and disable or restrict remote content loading.
   • Restrict dialog plugin usage: where the application does not strictly require the file/folder picker, remove or disable the dialog plugin.
   • Constrain the application's own OS-level privileges so that any scope expansion is bounded by least-privilege. Run the application under a dedicated low-privilege account.
   • Minimize the sensitivity of data reachable from the application's typical working paths.
   • Because the expanded scope cannot be revoked for the application lifetime, ensure users and operators know that terminating the application is the only reliable reset once a suspicious dialog interaction has occurred.

2. Patch / upgrade steps.

   • No patch is available as of this report. Monitor the Tauri project's security advisories and the CVE record for updates. When a fixed version of the dialog plugin or Tauri framework is released, rebuild the application against the patched dependency and redeploy. Verify the fix restricts scope assignment to the user's explicit selection and provides a revocation path.
   • Track the NVD entry and any OSV advisory for affected package ranges once published.

3. Long-term hardening.

   • Adopt a default-deny permission model for dialog plugin scope; grant only the specific selected resource, never recursive trees, unless an explicit and user-visible confirmation is provided.
   • Require explicit user-visible indication of any permission expansion and provide a runtime revocation mechanism.
   • Implement signed and integrity-checked application bundles, and verify plugin versions during CI/CD.
   • Add regression tests asserting that selected-scope grants cannot be widened by front-end input.
   • Continuously monitor advisory feeds (NVD, OSV, vendor) for patch availability given the unpatched status.

References

• NVD — CVE-2026-95627: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-95627
• Tauri project security advisories (monitor for patch availability): https://github.com/tauri-apps/tauri/security/advisories
• CWE-732 — Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/732.html
• CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (CVE-2026-95627 not currently listed): https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
• FIRST EPSS (not yet scored for this CVE): https://www.first.org/epss/

No known threat actor campaigns or exploit-in-the-wild evidence are associated with CVE-2026-95627 as of this report. No public PoC, exploit code, or Nuclei template is available.