# CVE-2026-20297 — Splunk Enterprise

> As of 2026-07-16, CVE-2026-20297 is a HIGH-severity vulnerability in Splunk Enterprise, CVSS v3.1 7.2. Threadlinqs Intelligence links 1 tracked threat campaign to CVE-2026-20297, most recently “Multiple Splunk Enterprise Vulnerabilities Enable Path Traversal and Information Disclosure (CVE-2026-20296, CVE-2026-20297, CVE-2026-20298)”.

**Last updated:** 2026-07-16

## What is CVE-2026-20297?

In Splunk Enterprise versions below 10.4.1, 10.2.5, 10.0.8, 9.4.13, and 9.3.14, and Splunk Cloud Platform versions below 10.5.2605.0, 10.4.2604.6, 10.2.2510.18, and 10.1.2507.24, a user who holds a role that contains the `edit_local_apps` and `install_apps` capabilities could cause a legitimate app installation to write files outside the intended app directory, into `$SPLUNK_HOME/etc/` and its subdirectories.The vulnerability is caused by a path traversal in the app installation workflow, which does not restrict the installation path to the intended app directory.

The record classifies CVE-2026-20297 under weakness class [CWE-22](https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/22.html). Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw is reachable remotely over the network, needs high-privilege credentials, needs no user interaction, and has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability. 2 affected-product entries are recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 60 days ago.

## Severity and exploitation probability

- **CVSS v3.1 base score:** 7.2 — HIGH (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **CISA KEV:** Not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
- **Threadlinqs priority:** 3.6/10 — a Threadlinqs composite of the CVSS base score, the EPSS percentile and public exploit availability
- **Published:** 2026-07-15, last modified 2026-07-16

## Is CVE-2026-20297 being exploited?

No public exploitation evidence for CVE-2026-20297 is recorded in the sources Threadlinqs tracks — CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, public proof-of-concept repositories and ProjectDiscovery Nuclei — as of 2026-07-16. That is an absence of evidence in those feeds, not a guarantee that the vulnerability is unexploited.

## Affected products and versions

- **Splunk**: Enterprise, Cloud Platform

## How to fix CVE-2026-20297

No vendor patch reference has been recorded for CVE-2026-20297 in the tracked sources. Follow the references below for a fix, and treat the products listed above as exposed until the vendor states otherwise.

## Threat activity tracking CVE-2026-20297

1 tracked threat in the Threadlinqs corpus references CVE-2026-20297, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

- [Multiple Splunk Enterprise Vulnerabilities Enable Path Traversal and Information Disclosure (CVE-2026-20296, CVE-2026-20297, CVE-2026-20298)](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-1409) — HIGH · 2026-07-16

## Sources

Enriched from CVE.org, NVD, GitHub Security Advisories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on 2026-07-16. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

**Other references**

- [advisory.splunk.com](https://advisory.splunk.com/advisories/SVD-2026-0703)

Canonical: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2026-20297
Full detection coverage and IOCs for threats exploiting CVE-2026-20297 via the Threadlinqs MCP server (Purple tier): https://intel.threadlinqs.com/mcp