CWE-22 (对路径名的限制不恰当(路径遍历)) — Vulnerability Class 5198

5198 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-2021-39316	ZoomSounds <= 6.45 Unauthenticated Directory Traversal and Sensitive Information Dislosure — ZoomSounds - WordPress Wave Audio Player with Playlist	7.5	High	2021-08-31
CVE-2021-33555	A vulnerability may allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files on the server of the WirelessHART-Gateway — WHA-GW-F2D2-0-AS- Z2-ETH	7.5	High	2021-08-31
CVE-2021-37701	Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via insufficient symlink protection due to directory cache poisoning using symbolic links — node-tar	8.2	High	2021-08-31
CVE-2021-37712	Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via insufficient symlink protection due to directory cache poisoning using symbolic links — node-tar	8.2	High	2021-08-31
CVE-2021-24549	AceIDE <= 2.6.2 - Authenticated (admin+) Arbitrary File Access — AceIDE	4.9	-	2021-08-23
CVE-2021-22933	Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure 路径遍历漏洞 — Pulse Connect Secure	6.5	-	2021-08-16
CVE-2021-24363	Photo Gallery < 1.5.75 - File Upload Path Traversal — Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery	4.9	-	2021-08-16
CVE-2021-21501	ServiceComb ServiceCenter Directory Traversal — Apache ServiceComb	9.1	-	2021-08-10
CVE-2021-34638	WordPress Download Manager <= 3.1.24 Authenticated Directory Traversal — WordPress Download Manager	6.5	Medium	2021-08-05
CVE-2021-32804	Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite due to insufficient absolute path sanitization — node-tar	8.2	High	2021-08-03
CVE-2021-32803	Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via insufficient symlink protection due to directory cache poisoning — node-tar	8.2	High	2021-08-03
CVE-2021-32814	Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') in Skytable — skytable	8.8	High	2021-08-03
CVE-2020-5370	DELL EMC OpenManage Enterprise 路径遍历漏洞 — OpenManage Enterprise	7.9	High	2021-07-22
CVE-2021-35968	Learningdigital.com, Inc. Orca HCM - Path Traversal-2 — Orca HCM	4.3	Medium	2021-07-19
CVE-2021-35967	Learningdigital.com, Inc. Orca HCM - Path Traversal-1 — Orca HCM	5.3	Medium	2021-07-19
CVE-2021-24453	Include Me <= 1.2.1 - Authenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) via LFI log poisoning — Include Me	8.8	-	2021-07-19
CVE-2021-24447	WP Image Zoom < 1.47 - Local File Inclusion — WP Image Zoom	6.5	-	2021-07-19
CVE-2021-32769	Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') in micronaut-core — micronaut-core	7.5	High	2021-07-16
CVE-2021-35962	TAIWAN SECOM CO., LTD., Door Access Control and Personnel Attendance Management system - Path Traversal — Door Access Control and Personnel Attendance Management system	7.5	High	2021-07-16
CVE-2021-32746	Possible path traversal by use of the `doc` module — icingaweb2	5.3	Medium	2021-07-12
CVE-2021-32532	QSAN XEVO - Path Traversal — XEVO	7.5	High	2021-07-07
CVE-2021-32527	QSAN Storage Manager - Path Traversal-2 — Storage Manager	7.5	High	2021-07-07
CVE-2021-32516	QSAN Storage Manager - Path Traversal — Storage Manager	7.5	High	2021-07-07
CVE-2021-24375	Motor theme < 3.1.0 - Local File Inclusion — Motor	9.8	-	2021-07-06
CVE-2021-28588	Adobe RoboHelp Server folderId Directory Traversal Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — RoboHelp Server	8.8	High	2021-06-28
CVE-2021-28584	Magento Commerce path traversal vulnerability in child theme store creation — Magento Commerce	5.4	Medium	2021-06-28
CVE-2021-21102	Adobe Illustrator DOCX file parsing directory traversal vulnerability could lead to remote code execution — Illustrator	8.8	High	2021-06-28
CVE-2021-21090	Adobe InCopy DOCX file parsing directory traversal vulnerability could lead to remote code execution — InCopy	8.8	High	2021-06-28
CVE-2021-29087	Synology DiskStation Manager 路径遍历漏洞 — DiskStation Manager (DSM)	7.5	High	2021-06-23
CVE-2021-32674	Remote Code Execution via traversal in TAL expressions — Zope	8.8	High	2021-06-08

Vulnerabilities classified as CWE-22 (对路径名的限制不恰当(路径遍历)) represent 5198 CVEs. The CWE taxonomy describes the weakness; review individual CVEs for product-specific impact.