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-2023-22320	OpenAM 路径遍历漏洞 — OpenAM Web Policy Agent (OpenAM Consortium Edition)	7.5	-	2023-01-10
CVE-2022-4884	Path-Traversal in MKP storing — Checkmk	3.5	Low	2023-01-09
CVE-2014-125068	saxman maps-js-icoads http-server.js path traversal — maps-js-icoads	5.5	Medium	2023-01-08
CVE-2020-36647	YunoHost-Apps transmission_ynh nginx.conf path traversal — transmission_ynh	5.5	Medium	2023-01-08
CVE-2022-4880	stakira OpenUtau ZIP Archive VoicebankInstaller.cs VoicebankInstaller path traversal — OpenUtau	5.5	Medium	2023-01-07
CVE-2015-10024	hoffie larasync file_storage.go path traversal — larasync	5.5	Medium	2023-01-07
CVE-2019-25099	Arthmoor QSF-Portal index.php path traversal — QSF-Portal	5.5	Medium	2023-01-06
CVE-2022-4878	JATOS ZIP ZipUtil.java ZipUtil path traversal — JATOS	5.5	Medium	2023-01-06
CVE-2019-25098	soerennb eXtplorer Archive archive.php path traversal — eXtplorer	5.5	Medium	2023-01-05
CVE-2019-25097	soerennb eXtplorer Directory Content path traversal — eXtplorer	5.5	Medium	2023-01-05
CVE-2020-36639	AlliedModders AMX Mod X Console Command adminvote.sma cmdVoteMap path traversal — AMX Mod X	4.3	Medium	2023-01-04
CVE-2022-36943	SSZipArchive 后置链接漏洞 — SSZipArchive	7.1	-	2023-01-03
CVE-2022-39040	aEnrich a+HRD - Path Traversal — a+HRD	7.5	High	2023-01-03
CVE-2022-46305	ChangingTec ServiSign - Path Traversal — ServiSign	6.5	Medium	2023-01-03
CVE-2022-46306	ChangingTec ServiSign - Path Traversal — ServiSign	8.8	High	2023-01-03
CVE-2022-46309	Galaxy Software Services Corporation. Vitals ESP - Arbitrary Path File Reading — Vitals ESP	6.5	Medium	2023-01-03
CVE-2017-20152	aerouk imageserve File viewer.php path traversal — imageserve	3.1	Low	2022-12-30
CVE-2018-25059	pastebinit server.go pasteHandler path traversal — pastebinit	3.5	Low	2022-12-30
CVE-2022-46178	Path Traversal In MeterSpere allows file upload to any path — metersphere	7.4	High	2022-12-29
CVE-2022-4773	cloudsync LocalFilesystemConnector.java getItem path traversal — cloudsync	2.5	Low	2022-12-27
CVE-2022-4772	Widoco WidocoUtils.java unZipIt path traversal — Widoco	4.5	Medium	2022-12-27
CVE-2022-4748	FlatPress File Delete panel.mediamanager.file.php doItemActions path traversal — FlatPress	5.5	Medium	2022-12-27
CVE-2020-36629	SimbCo httpster server.coffee fs.realpathSync path traversal — httpster	5.5	Medium	2022-12-25
CVE-2020-36628	Calsign APDE ZIP File CopyBuildTask.java handleExtract path traversal — APDE	5.5	Medium	2022-12-25
CVE-2022-46171	Tauri vulnerable to path traversal — tauri	6.8	Medium	2022-12-23
CVE-2022-43858	IBM Navigator for i information disclosure — Navigator for i	4.3	Medium	2022-12-22
CVE-2022-43857	IBM Navigator for i information disclosure — Navigator for i	4.3	Medium	2022-12-22
CVE-2022-3184	Dataprobe iBoot-PDU 路径遍历漏洞 — iBoot-PDU FW	9.8	Critical	2022-12-21
CVE-2022-40607	IBM Spectrum Scale directory traversal — Spectrum Scale	6.8	Medium	2022-12-19
CVE-2022-27498	Lansweeper 路径遍历漏洞 — lansweeper	6.5	-	2022-12-19

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.