This article is a part of our Vulnerability Database (back to index)
Path Traversal occurrences in Fedora
Twig is a template language for PHP. Versions 1.x prior to 1.44.7, 2.x prior to 2.15.3, and 3.x prior to 3.4.3 encounter an issue when the filesystem loader loads templates for which the name is a user input. It is possible to use the `source` or `include` statement to read arbitrary files from outside the templates' directory when using a namespace like `@somewhere/../some.file`. In such a case, validation is bypassed. Versions 1.44.7, 2.15.3, and 3.4.3 contain a fix for validation of such template names. There are no known workarounds aside from upgrading. (2022-09-28, CVE-2022-39261)
JoinPath and URL.JoinPath do not remove ../ path elements appended to a relative path. For example, JoinPath("https://go.dev", "../go") returns the URL "https://go.dev/../go", despite the JoinPath documentation stating that ../ path elements are removed from the result. (2022-09-13, CVE-2022-32190)
Moment.js is a JavaScript date library for parsing, validating, manipulating, and formatting dates. A path traversal vulnerability impacts npm (server) users of Moment.js between versions 1.0.1 and 2.29.1, especially if a user-provided locale string is directly used to switch moment locale. This problem is patched in 2.29.2, and the patch can be applied to all affected versions. As a workaround, sanitize the user-provided locale name before passing it to Moment.js. (2022-04-04, CVE-2022-24785)
Flatpak is a Linux application sandboxing and distribution framework. A path traversal vulnerability affects versions of Flatpak prior to 1.12.3 and 1.10.6. flatpak-builder applies `finish-args` last in the build. At this point the build directory will have the full access that is specified in the manifest, so running `flatpak build` against it will gain those permissions. Normally this will not be done, so this is not problem. However, if `--mirror-screenshots-url` is specified, then flatpak-builder will launch `flatpak build --nofilesystem=host appstream-utils mirror-screenshots` after finalization, which can lead to issues even with the `--nofilesystem=host` protection. In normal use, the only issue is that these empty directories can be created wherever the user has write permissions. However, a malicious application could replace the `appstream-util` binary and potentially do something more hostile. This has been resolved in Flatpak 1.12.3 and 1.10.6 by changing the behaviour of `--nofilesystem=home` and `--nofilesystem=host`. (2022-01-13, CVE-2022-21682)
Storage.save in Django 2.2 before 2.2.26, 3.2 before 3.2.11, and 4.0 before 4.0.1 allows directory traversal if crafted filenames are directly passed to it. (2022-01-05, CVE-2021-45452)
Synapse is a package for Matrix homeservers written in Python 3/Twisted. Prior to version 1.47.1, Synapse instances with the media repository enabled can be tricked into downloading a file from a remote server into an arbitrary directory. No authentication is required for the affected endpoint. The last 2 directories and file name of the path are chosen randomly by Synapse and cannot be controlled by an attacker, which limits the impact. Homeservers with the media repository disabled are unaffected. Homeservers with a federation whitelist are also unaffected, since Synapse will check the remote hostname, including the trailing `../`s, against the whitelist. Server administrators should upgrade to 1.47.1 or later. Server administrators using a reverse proxy could, at the expense of losing media functionality, may block the certain endpoints as a workaround. Alternatively, non-containerized deployments can be adapted to use the hardened systemd config. (2021-11-23, CVE-2021-41281)
It was found that the fix for CVE-2021-41773 in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.50 was insufficient. An attacker could use a path traversal attack to map URLs to files outside the directories configured by Alias-like directives. If files outside of these directories are not protected by the usual default configuration "require all denied", these requests can succeed. If CGI scripts are also enabled for these aliased pathes, this could allow for remote code execution. This issue only affects Apache 2.4.49 and Apache 2.4.50 and not earlier versions. (2021-10-07, CVE-2021-42013)
A flaw was found in a change made to path normalization in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.49. An attacker could use a path traversal attack to map URLs to files outside the directories configured by Alias-like directives. If files outside of these directories are not protected by the usual default configuration "require all denied", these requests can succeed. If CGI scripts are also enabled for these aliased pathes, this could allow for remote code execution. This issue is known to be exploited in the wild. This issue only affects Apache 2.4.49 and not earlier versions. The fix in Apache HTTP Server 2.4.50 was found to be incomplete, see CVE-2021-42013. (2021-10-05, CVE-2021-41773)
containerd is an open source container runtime with an emphasis on simplicity, robustness and portability. A bug was found in containerd where container root directories and some plugins had insufficiently restricted permissions, allowing otherwise unprivileged Linux users to traverse directory contents and execute programs. When containers included executable programs with extended permission bits (such as setuid), unprivileged Linux users could discover and execute those programs. When the UID of an unprivileged Linux user on the host collided with the file owner or group inside a container, the unprivileged Linux user on the host could discover, read, and modify those files. This vulnerability has been fixed in containerd 1.4.11 and containerd 1.5.7. Users should update to these version when they are released and may restart containers or update directory permissions to mitigate the vulnerability. Users unable to update should limit access to the host to trusted users. Update directory permission on container bundles directories. (2021-10-04, CVE-2021-41103)
squashfs_opendir in unsquash-1.c in Squashfs-Tools 4.5 stores the filename in the directory entry; this is then used by unsquashfs to create the new file during the unsquash. The filename is not validated for traversal outside of the destination directory, and thus allows writing to locations outside of the destination. (2021-08-27, CVE-2021-40153)
Dovecot before 2.3.15 allows ../ Path Traversal. An attacker with access to the local filesystem can trick OAuth2 authentication into using an HS256 validation key from an attacker-controlled location. This occurs during use of local JWT validation with the posix fs driver. (2021-06-28, CVE-2021-29157)
The thefuck (aka The Fuck) package before 3.31 for Python allows Path Traversal that leads to arbitrary file deletion via the "undo archive operation" feature. (2021-06-10, CVE-2021-34363)
Django before 2.2.24, 3.x before 3.1.12, and 3.2.x before 3.2.4 has a potential directory traversal via django.contrib.admindocs. Staff members could use the TemplateDetailView view to check the existence of arbitrary files. Additionally, if (and only if) the default admindocs templates have been customized by application developers to also show file contents, then not only the existence but also the file contents would have been exposed. In other words, there is directory traversal outside of the template root directories. (2021-06-08, CVE-2021-33203)
Dino before 0.1.2 and 0.2.x before 0.2.1 allows Directory Traversal (only for creation of new files) via URI-encoded path separators. (2021-06-07, CVE-2021-33896)
There's a flaw in Python 3's pydoc. A local or adjacent attacker who discovers or is able to convince another local or adjacent user to start a pydoc server could access the server and use it to disclose sensitive information belonging to the other user that they would not normally be able to access. The highest risk of this flaw is to data confidentiality. This flaw affects Python versions before 3.8.9, Python versions before 3.9.3 and Python versions before 3.10.0a7. (2021-05-20, CVE-2021-3426)
MapServer before 7.0.8, 7.1.x and 7.2.x before 7.2.3, 7.3.x and 7.4.x before 7.4.5, and 7.5.x and 7.6.x before 7.6.3 does not properly enforce the MS_MAP_NO_PATH and MS_MAP_PATTERN restrictions that are intended to control the locations from which a mapfile may be loaded (with MapServer CGI). (2021-05-06, CVE-2021-32062)
In Django 2.2 before 2.2.21, 3.1 before 3.1.9, and 3.2 before 3.2.1, MultiPartParser, UploadedFile, and FieldFile allowed directory traversal via uploaded files with suitably crafted file names. (2021-05-05, CVE-2021-31542)
Multiple path traversal vulnerabilities exist in smbserver.py in Impacket through 0.9.22. An attacker that connects to a running smbserver instance can list and write to arbitrary files via ../ directory traversal. This could potentially be abused to achieve arbitrary code execution by replacing /etc/shadow or an SSH authorized key. (2021-05-05, CVE-2021-31800)
In Django 2.2 before 2.2.20, 3.0 before 3.0.14, and 3.1 before 3.1.8, MultiPartParser allowed directory traversal via uploaded files with suitably crafted file names. Built-in upload handlers were not affected by this vulnerability. (2021-04-06, CVE-2021-28658)
An issue was discovered in through SaltStack Salt before 3002.5. The salt.wheel.pillar_roots.write method is vulnerable to directory traversal. (2021-02-27, CVE-2021-25282)
A flaw was found in mbsync before v1.3.5 and v1.4.1. Validations of the mailbox names returned by IMAP LIST/LSUB do not occur allowing a malicious or compromised server to use specially crafted mailbox names containing '..' path components to access data outside the designated mailbox on the opposite end of the synchronization channel. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity. (2021-02-23, CVE-2021-20247)
autoar-extractor.c in GNOME gnome-autoar through 0.2.4, as used by GNOME Shell, Nautilus, and other software, allows Directory Traversal during extraction because it lacks a check of whether a file's parent is a symlink to a directory outside of the intended extraction location. (2021-02-05, CVE-2020-36241)
In Django 2.2 before 2.2.18, 3.0 before 3.0.12, and 3.1 before 3.1.6, the django.utils.archive.extract method (used by "startapp --template" and "startproject --template") allows directory traversal via an archive with absolute paths or relative paths with dot segments. (2021-02-02, CVE-2021-3281)
** DISPUTED ** fs/nfsd/nfs3xdr.c in the Linux kernel through 5.10.8, when there is an NFS export of a subdirectory of a filesystem, allows remote attackers to traverse to other parts of the filesystem via READDIRPLUS. NOTE: some parties argue that such a subdirectory export is not intended to prevent this attack; see also the exports(5) no_subtree_check default behavior. (2021-01-19, CVE-2021-3178)
Tar.php in Archive_Tar through 1.4.11 allows write operations with Directory Traversal due to inadequate checking of symbolic links, a related issue to CVE-2020-28948. (2021-01-18, CVE-2020-36193)
In drivers/target/target_core_xcopy.c in the Linux kernel before 5.10.7, insufficient identifier checking in the LIO SCSI target code can be used by remote attackers to read or write files via directory traversal in an XCOPY request, aka CID-2896c93811e3. For example, an attack can occur over a network if the attacker has access to one iSCSI LUN. The attacker gains control over file access because I/O operations are proxied via an attacker-selected backstore. (2021-01-13, CVE-2020-28374)
In AWStats through 7.8, cgi-bin/awstats.pl?config= accepts a partial absolute pathname (omitting the initial /etc), even though it was intended to only read a file in the /etc/awstats/awstats.conf format. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2017-1000501 and CVE-2020-29600. (2020-12-12, CVE-2020-35176)
In AWStats through 7.7, cgi-bin/awstats.pl?config= accepts an absolute pathname, even though it was intended to only read a file in the /etc/awstats/awstats.conf format. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2017-1000501. (2020-12-07, CVE-2020-29600)
A flaw was found in librepo in versions before 1.12.1. A directory traversal vulnerability was found where it failed to sanitize paths in remote repository metadata. An attacker controlling a remote repository may be able to copy files outside of the destination directory on the targeted system via path traversal. This flaw could potentially result in system compromise via the overwriting of critical system files. The highest threat from this flaw is to users that make use of untrusted third-party repositories. (2020-08-30, CVE-2020-14352)
In kerfuffle/jobs.cpp in KDE Ark before 20.08.0, a crafted archive can install files outside the extraction directory via ../ directory traversal. (2020-08-03, CVE-2020-16116)
A flaw was found in the Ansible Engine when the fetch module is used. An attacker could intercept the module, inject a new path, and then choose a new destination path on the controller node. All versions in 2.7.x, 2.8.x and 2.9.x branches are believed to be vulnerable. (2020-03-16, CVE-2020-1735)
Versions of the npm CLI prior to 6.13.3 are vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Write. It fails to prevent access to folders outside of the intended node_modules folder through the bin field. A properly constructed entry in the package.json bin field would allow a package publisher to modify and/or gain access to arbitrary files on a user's system when the package is installed. This behavior is still possible through install scripts. This vulnerability bypasses a user using the --ignore-scripts install option. (2019-12-13, CVE-2019-16776)
A flaw was found in the samba client, all samba versions before samba 4.11.2, 4.10.10 and 4.9.15, where a malicious server can supply a pathname to the client with separators. This could allow the client to access files and folders outside of the SMB network pathnames. An attacker could use this vulnerability to create files outside of the current working directory using the privileges of the client user. (2019-11-06, CVE-2019-10218)
LibreOffice has a feature where documents can specify that pre-installed macros can be executed on various script events such as mouse-over, document-open etc. Access is intended to be restricted to scripts under the share/Scripts/python, user/Scripts/python sub-directories of the LibreOffice install. Protection was added, to address CVE-2019-9852, to avoid a directory traversal attack where scripts in arbitrary locations on the file system could be executed by employing a URL encoding attack to defeat the path verification step. However this protection could be bypassed by taking advantage of a flaw in how LibreOffice assembled the final script URL location directly from components of the passed in path as opposed to solely from the sanitized output of the path verification step. This issue affects: Document Foundation LibreOffice 6.2 versions prior to 6.2.7; 6.3 versions prior to 6.3.1. (2019-09-06, CVE-2019-9854)
LibreOffice has a feature where documents can specify that pre-installed macros can be executed on various script events such as mouse-over, document-open etc. Access is intended to be restricted to scripts under the share/Scripts/python, user/Scripts/python sub-directories of the LibreOffice install. Protection was added, to address CVE-2018-16858, to avoid a directory traversal attack where scripts in arbitrary locations on the file system could be executed. However this new protection could be bypassed by a URL encoding attack. In the fixed versions, the parsed url describing the script location is correctly encoded before further processing. This issue affects: Document Foundation LibreOffice versions prior to 6.2.6. (2019-08-15, CVE-2019-9852)
The PharStreamWrapper (aka phar-stream-wrapper) package 2.x before 2.1.1 and 3.x before 3.1.1 for TYPO3 does not prevent directory traversal, which allows attackers to bypass a deserialization protection mechanism, as demonstrated by a phar:///path/bad.phar/../good.phar URL. (2019-05-09, CVE-2019-11831)
A flaw was found in the way samba implemented an RPC endpoint emulating the Windows registry service API. An unprivileged attacker could use this flaw to create a new registry hive file anywhere they have unix permissions which could lead to creation of a new file in the Samba share. Versions before 4.8.11, 4.9.6 and 4.10.2 are vulnerable. (2019-04-09, CVE-2019-3880)
urllib in Python 2.x through 2.7.16 supports the local_file: scheme, which makes it easier for remote attackers to bypass protection mechanisms that blacklist file: URIs, as demonstrated by triggering a urllib.urlopen('local_file:///etc/passwd') call. (2019-03-23, CVE-2019-9948)
Openwsman, versions up to and including 2.6.9, are vulnerable to arbitrary file disclosure because the working directory of openwsmand daemon was set to root directory. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted HTTP request to openwsman server. (2019-03-14, CVE-2019-3816)
Why Path Traversal can be dangerous
Relative Path Confusion means that your web server is configured to serve responses to ambiguous URLs. This configuration can possibly cause confusion about the correct relative path for the URL. It is also an issue of resources, such as images, styles etc., which are specified in the response using relative path, not the absolute URL.
If the web browser permits to parse "cross-content" response, the attacker may be able to fool the web browser into interpreting HTML into other content types, which can then lead to a cross site scripting attack (link do XSS).