CWE-22 (对路径名的限制不恰当(路径遍历)) — Vulnerability Class 5199

5199 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-2023-36819	Knowage-Server vulnerable to Path traversal in download functionalities — Knowage-Server	6.5	Medium	2023-07-03
CVE-2023-35946	Dependency cache path traversal in Gradle — gradle	6.9	Medium	2023-06-30
CVE-2023-35947	Path traversal vulnerabilities in handling of Tar archives in Gradle — gradle	6.9	Medium	2023-06-30
CVE-2023-3331	NEC Aterm WG2200HP 路径遍历漏洞 — Aterm WG2600HP2	8.1	-	2023-06-28
CVE-2023-3330	NEC Aterm WG2200HP 路径遍历漏洞 — Aterm WG2600HP2	5.3	-	2023-06-28
CVE-2023-35169	php-imap vulnerable to RCE through a directory traversal vulnerability — php-imap	9.1	Critical	2023-06-23
CVE-2023-2270	Local privilege escalation — Netskope Client	7.0	High	2023-06-15
CVE-2023-3241	OTCMS path traversal — OTCMS	3.5	Low	2023-06-14
CVE-2023-2278	WP Directory Kit <= 1.1.9 - Unauthenticated Local File Inclusion via wdk_public_action — WP Directory Kit	9.8	Critical	2023-06-13
CVE-2023-34342	BMC AMI 路径遍历漏洞 — MegaRAC_SPx	6.0	Medium	2023-06-12
CVE-2023-34345	BMC AMI 路径遍历漏洞 — MegaRAC_SPx	6.5	Medium	2023-06-12
CVE-2023-2688	WordPress File Upload / WordPress File Upload Pro <= 4.19.1 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Path Traversal — Iptanus File Upload	4.9	Medium	2023-06-09
CVE-2023-3172	Path Traversal in froxlor/froxlor — froxlor/froxlor	2.7	-	2023-06-09
CVE-2023-34096	Thruk has Path Traversal Vulnerability in panorama.pm — Thruk	6.5	Medium	2023-06-08
CVE-2023-34238	Local File Inclusion vulnerability in Gatsby — gatsby	4.3	Medium	2023-06-07
CVE-2023-29502	PTC Vuforia Studio Path Traversal — Vuforia Studio	6.2	Medium	2023-06-07
CVE-2023-1864	FANUC ROBOGUIDE-HandlingPRO Path Traversal — ROBOGUIDE-HandlingPRO	6.8	Medium	2023-06-07
CVE-2020-36728	Adning Advertising <= 1.5.5 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Deletion via Path Traversal — Adning Advertising	6.5	Medium	2023-06-07
CVE-2023-3031	Prestahop module King-Avis - Path traversal — King-Avis	4.9	Medium	2023-06-02
CVE-2023-2909	A Directory traversal vulnerability was found on EZ Sync service of ADM — ADM	8.5	High	2023-05-31
CVE-2023-2435	Blog-in-Blog <= 2.0.0 - Authenticated (Editor+) Local File Inclusion via Shortcode — Blog-in-Blog	7.2	High	2023-05-31
CVE-2023-33177	Xibo CMS vulnerable to Remote Code Execution through Zip Slip — xibo-cms	8.8	High	2023-05-30
CVE-2023-32676	Autolab tar slip in Install Assessment functionality (`GHSL-2023-081`) — Autolab	6.7	Medium	2023-05-26
CVE-2023-32317	Autolab tar slip in cheat checker functionality (`GHSL-2023-082`) — Autolab	6.7	Medium	2023-05-26
CVE-2023-32315	Openfire administration console authentication bypass — Openfire	8.6	High	2023-05-26
CVE-2022-36328	Path Traversal Vulnerability leading to an arbitrary file read in Western Digital devices — My Cloud Home and My Cloud Home Duo	5.8	Medium	2023-05-18
CVE-2022-36327	Path traversal vulnerability leading to an arbitrary file write in Western Digital devices — My Cloud Home and My Cloud Home Duo	5.8	Medium	2023-05-18
CVE-2023-32322	Arbitrary file read in Ombi — Ombi	4.9	Medium	2023-05-18
CVE-2023-2745	WordPress Core < 6.2.1 - Directory Traversal — WordPress	5.4	Medium	2023-05-17
CVE-2023-2196	Missing permission checks in Code Dx Plugin — Jenkins Code Dx Plugin	4.3	Medium	2023-05-16

Vulnerabilities classified as CWE-22 (对路径名的限制不恰当(路径遍历)) represent 5199 CVEs. The CWE taxonomy describes the weakness; review individual CVEs for product-specific impact.