CVE-2026-49145
App::Ack versions through 3.10.0 for Perl read arbitrary files via --files-from in a project .ackrc. ack searches up the directory hierarchy from the current directory for a project .ackrc and loads its options. The project-source option blocklist in App::Ack::ConfigLoader does not include --files-from, so a project .ackrc can set it to a path whose listed files ack then reads and searches. Version 3.10.0 added --follow to the blocklist; --files-from remains accepted. A project .ackrc committed to an untrusted repository can make ack read files outside the project and print their matching lines.
No public exploitation has been reported so far. No distribution fix is listed yet; apply vendor mitigations and monitor.
Recommended action: Track your distribution's security tracker and apply the fix as soon as it ships.
Severity metrics
CVSS 3.1 : 7.5 HIGH
Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Affected & fixed versions by distribution
Versions are the native distribution strings (backport-aware): RHEL/Debian/SUSE backport fixes, so compare with the distro version comparator (dpkg / rpm / vercmp), not the upstream version.
No affected package in the tracked watchlist yet (Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, SUSE, Red Hat...). Triage may still be pending.