CWE-22 (对路径名的限制不恰当(路径遍历)) — Vulnerability Class 5186

5186 vulnerabilities classified as CWE-22 (对路径名的限制不恰当(路径遍历)). AI Chinese analysis included.

CWE-22 represents a critical input validation weakness where software fails to properly sanitize external input before constructing file paths. Attackers typically exploit this vulnerability by injecting directory traversal sequences, such as “../”, into user-supplied parameters. These malicious inputs allow the application to resolve file references outside the intended restricted directory, potentially granting unauthorized access to sensitive system files, configuration data, or source code. To mitigate this risk, developers must implement rigorous input validation techniques, ensuring that all path components are strictly checked against allowed characters and structures. Additionally, employing canonicalization to resolve symbolic links and relative paths before validation, combined with strict chroot jails or sandboxing, effectively confines file operations to designated directories, thereby neutralizing the potential for path traversal attacks and preserving system integrity.

MITRE CWE Description

The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory. Many file operations are intended to take place within a restricted directory. By using special elements such as ".." and "/" separators, attackers can escape outside of the restricted location to access files or directories that are elsewhere on the system. One of the most common special elements is the "../" sequence, which in most modern operating systems is interpreted as the parent directory of the current location. This is referred to as relative path traversal. Path traversal also covers the use of absolute pathnames such as "/usr/local/bin" to access unexpected files. This is referred to as absolute path traversal.

Common Consequences (4)

Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

The attacker may be able to create or overwrite critical files that are used to execute code, such as programs or libraries.

Integrity Modify Files or Directories

The attacker may be able to overwrite or create critical files, such as programs, libraries, or important data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, appending a new account at the end of a password file may allow …

Confidentiality Read Files or Directories

The attacker may be able read the contents of unexpected files and expose sensitive data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, by reading a password file, the attacker could conduct brute force password guessing a…

Availability DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

The attacker may be able to overwrite, delete, or corrupt unexpected critical files such as programs, libraries, or important data. This may prevent the product from working at all and in the case of protection mechanisms such as authentication, it has the potential to lock out product users.

Mitigations (5)

Implementation Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does. When performing input validation, consider all potentially relevant properties, including length, type of input, the full range…

Architecture and Design For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.

Implementation Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174). Such errors could be used to bypass allowlist validation schemes by introducing dangerous inputs after they have been checked. Use a built-in path canonicalization function (such as realpath(…

Architecture and Design Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid [REF-1482].

Operation Use an application firewall that can detect attacks against this weakness. It can be beneficial in cases in which the code cannot be fixed (because it is controlled by a third party), as an emergency prevention measure while more comprehensive software assurance measures are applied, or to provide defense in depth [REF-1481].

Effectiveness: Moderate

Examples (2)

The following code could be for a social networking application in which each user's profile information is stored in a separate file. All files are stored in a single directory.

my $dataPath = "/users/cwe/profiles"; my $username = param("user"); my $profilePath = $dataPath . "/" . $username; open(my $fh, "<", $profilePath) || ExitError("profile read error: $profilePath"); print "<ul>\n"; while (<$fh>) { print "<li>$_</li>\n"; } print "</ul>\n";

Bad · Perl

../../../etc/passwd

Attack

In the example below, the path to a dictionary file is read from a system property and used to initialize a File object.

String filename = System.getProperty("com.domain.application.dictionaryFile"); File dictionaryFile = new File(filename);

Bad · Java

CVE ID	Title	CVSS	Severity	Published
CVE-2026-115497	Music Store <= 1.4.7 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Read via 'f' Parameter — Music Store – WordPress eCommerce	7.5	High	2026-10-23
CVE-2026-105265	Kiloview E3 NDI Encoder Path Traversal — E3 Firmware	5.3	Medium	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-115375	Incus 7.0.0 before 7.0.2 and 7.1.0 before 7.5.0 Path Traversal via Instance Backup Dependent Volumes — incus	9.9	Critical	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-115355	Mistune before 3.3.0 Path Traversal and XSS via Include Directive — mistune	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-115354	Mistune before 3.3.0 Arbitrary Local File Read via Include Directive — mistune	6.5	Medium	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-115353	Mistune before 3.3.0 Path Traversal via include Directive — mistune	8.6	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-77156	ast-cli: Path traversal in tar extraction on Linux/macOS allows writes outside the install directory — github.com/checkmarx/ast-cli	6.4	Medium	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-114606	draw.io Desktop: Arbitrary local-file read via read-side IPC (no blessed-path gate) — drawio-desktop	5.6	Medium	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-92709	Rsyslog: DynFile Path Traversal → Arbitrary File Write as Root → RCE — rsyslog	8.1	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2024-58396	YouDataSum CPAS Audit Management System V4 Path Traversal via downPlugs fileId — CPAS Audit Management System	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2022-51024	Kavita < 0.5.4.1 Unauthenticated Path Traversal via cover-upload Endpoint — Kavita	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2022-51025	Penta Security WAPPLES 4.0.54.1 / 5.0 / 6.0 Path Traversal via /webapi/file/transfer — WAPPLES	6.5	Medium	2026-10-22
CVE-2022-51022	YiShaAdmin 3.1 Unauthenticated Path Traversal via DownloadFile endpoint — YiShaAdmin	9.1	Critical	2026-10-22
CVE-2021-48017	OrbiTeam BSCW Server < 5.2.5 / 7.4.4 Path Traversal via bscw.cgi — BSCW Server	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2021-48015	JeeWMS Path Traversal via showOrDownByurl.do — JeeWMS	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2021-48014	FineReport 9.0 Unauthenticated Path Traversal File Write via ReportServer — FineReport	9.8	Critical	2026-10-22
CVE-2021-48013	Weaver E-cology 8.0 Unauthenticated Path Traversal via ln.FileDownload — E-cology	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2019-25779	WooThemes Diarise 1.5.9 Local File Disclosure via download.php — Diarise	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2018-25439	MetInfo CMS < 6.1.1 Unauthenticated Path Traversal via thumb.php dir Parameter — MetInfo	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2018-25438	Intermesh Group-Office < 3.5.5 Path Traversal via compress.php — Group-Office	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2017-20287	Javo Spot WordPress Theme < 3.0.0 Path Traversal via admin-ajax.php fn Parameter — Javo Spot	7.5	High	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-115207	Patch: filename validation bypass in reversal fallback allows file creation outside the working directory — Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10	5.5	Medium	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-112311	WordPress ACF Extended plugin <= 0.9.2.7 - Arbitrary File Deletion vulnerability — ACF Extended	6.5	Medium	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-81163	Media Library Importer - Moderately critical - Access bypass - SA-CONTRIB-2026-129 — Media Library Importer	-	-	2026-10-22
CVE-2026-114140	nbconvert: File write via path traversal in cell output filenames — nbconvert	8.8	High	2026-10-21
CVE-2026-114377	leomoon-studios wiki-go Comment Deletion comments.go DeleteComment path traversal — wiki-go	3.8	Low	2026-10-21
CVE-2026-114376	leomoon-studios wiki-go API editor.go SourceHandler path traversal — wiki-go	6.3	Medium	2026-10-21
CVE-2026-114375	leomoon-studios wiki-go Files Rename API files.go RenameFileHandler path traversal — wiki-go	6.3	Medium	2026-10-21
CVE-2026-85518	Openscap: openscap: arbitrary file write via path traversal in source datastream decomposition — Red Hat Hardened Images	6.1	Medium	2026-10-21
CVE-2026-105945	Apache Pulsar: Improper Validation of Package Name Components Allows Cross-Tenant Package Access in Filesystem Package Storage — Apache Pulsar	7.7	High	2026-10-21

Vulnerabilities classified as CWE-22 (对路径名的限制不恰当(路径遍历)) represent 5186 CVEs. The CWE taxonomy describes the weakness; review individual CVEs for product-specific impact.