Weakness (CWE)
CWE-73: External Control of File Name or Path
The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations.
How to prevent it (8 mitigations)
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Architecture and Design
When the set of filenames is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames, and reject all other inputs. For example, ID 1 could map to "inbox.txt" and ID 2 could map to "profile.txt". Features such as the ESAPI AccessReferenceMap provide this capability.
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Architecture and Design, Operation
Run your code in a "jail" or similar sandbox environment that enforces strict boundaries between the process and the operating system. This may effectively restrict all access to files within a particular directory.
Examples include the Unix chroot jail and AppArmor. In general, managed code may provide some protection.
This may not be a feasible solution, and it only limits the impact to the operating system; the rest of your application may still be subject to compromise.
Be careful to avoid CWE-243 and other weaknesses related to jails.
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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.
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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 of acceptable values, missing or extra inputs, syntax, consistency across related fields, and conformance to business rules. As an example of business rule logic, "boat" may be syntactically valid because it only contains alphanumeric characters, but it is not valid if the input is only expected to contain colors such as "red" or "blue."
Do not rely exclusively on looking for malicious or malformed inputs. This is likely to miss at least one undesirable input, especially if the code's environment changes. This can give attackers enough room to bypass the intended validation. However, denylists can be useful for detecting potential attacks or determining which inputs are so malformed that they should be rejected outright.
When validating filenames, use stringent allowlists that limit the character set to be used. If feasible, only allow a single "." character in the filename to avoid weaknesses such as CWE-23, and exclude directory separators such as "/" to avoid CWE-36. Use a list of allowable file extensions, which will help to avoid CWE-434.
Do not rely exclusively on a filtering mechanism that removes potentially dangerous characters. This is equivalent to a denylist, which may be incomplete (CWE-184). For example, filtering "/" is insufficient protection if the filesystem also supports the use of "\" as a directory separator. Another possible error could occur when the filtering is applied in a way that still produces dangerous data (CWE-182). For example, if "../" sequences are removed from the ".../...//" string in a sequential fashion, two instances of "../" would be removed from the original string, but the remaining characters would still form the "../" string.
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Implementation
Use a built-in path canonicalization function (such as realpath() in C) that produces the canonical version of the pathname, which effectively removes ".." sequences and symbolic links (CWE-23, CWE-59).
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Installation, Operation
Use OS-level permissions and run as a low-privileged user to limit the scope of any successful attack.
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Operation, Implementation
If you are using PHP, configure your application so that it does not use register_globals. During implementation, develop your application so that it does not rely on this feature, but be wary of implementing a register_globals emulation that is subject to weaknesses such as CWE-95, CWE-621, and similar issues.
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Testing
Use tools and techniques that require manual (human) analysis, such as penetration testing, threat modeling, and interactive tools that allow the tester to record and modify an active session. These may be more effective than strictly automated techniques. This is especially the case with weaknesses that are related to design and business rules.
Source: MITRE CWE-73
277 results · Clear filters · Feed
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Medium 5.4
BackUpWordPress < 3.15 - Subscriber+ Backup Directory File Deletion via hmbkp_dismiss_error
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Medium 6.5
Directorist < 8.11 - Subscriber+ Arbitrary Media Deletion via Listing Image Field
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Medium 6.9
KurrentDB: Privileged access to read $all enables arbitrary file read and GET-only SSRF
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Medium 6.5
Quest Foglight for Databases FileServlet External Control of File Path Information Disclosure Vulnerability
Quest Foglight for Databases FileServlet External Control of File Path Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of Quest Foglight for Databases. Authentication…
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Medium 4.8
mongofiles may disclose GridFS content to standard output through a stored filename
MongoDB Database Tools mongofiles uses a database-stored GridFS filename as the output destination for get_id when --local is not specified. A user who can modify the file metadata can set the stored filename to '-', causing a later authorized retrieval to wr…
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Medium 6.9
Local Privilege Escalation via OpenVPN Configuration and Proxy Settings in Securepoint SSL VPN Client v2 for Windows
Securepoint SSL VPN Client v2 on Windows contains vulnerabilities in the handling of OpenVPN configurations and proxy settings that allow non-privileged local users to influence operations performed with NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM privileges. Two attack vectors have…
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Medium 6.8
Stirling-PDF: AI create-pdf-from-html-agent skips HTML sanitization enabling WeasyPrint SSRF and local file read
Stirling-PDF is a locally hosted web application that facilitates various operations on PDF files. Prior to 3.0.0, POST /api/v1/ai/tools/create-pdf-from-html-agent accepts attacker-controlled htmlContent and passes it to WeasyPrint without CustomHtmlSanitizer…
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Medium 6.5
Immich: Unauthenticated filesystem path injection (arbitrary directory write + recursive delete) in the machine-learning service
Immich is a high-performance self-hosted photo and video management solution. Prior to 3.3.0, the unauthenticated machine-learning /predict endpoint in machine-learning/immich_ml/main.py accepted an options object and passed its values into model construction…
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Medium 4.2
croc: Overwrite-confirmation bypass via a crafted "croc-stdin-" filename on receive
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Medium 6.5
Forminator Forms <= 1.55.0.2 - Unauthenticated Limited File Deletion via Draft Upload Metadata
The Forminator Forms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Limited File Deletion in all versions up to, and including, 1.55.0.2. This is due to the plugin accepting arbitrary upload field metadata from POST requests in draft submissions without proper validat…
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Medium 5.9
MariaDB Connector/J: LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE file check could be satisfied by text inside quoted identifiers, letting a malicious server read client files
MariaDB Connector/J is used to connect applications developed in Java to MariaDB and MySQL databases. From 3.0.0 until 3.3.7, 3.4.5, and 3.5.11, the ClientMessage.validateLocalFileName() check used a regular expression that could match LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE …
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Medium 5.9
Nuxt dev server arbitrary file read through client error reports
Nuxt is an open-source web development framework for Vue.js. From 4.6.0 until 4.6.3, a client with TCP access to an exposed Nuxt development server can send a nuxt:dev:client-error event over the HMR socket with an absolute file path at the end of its message…
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Medium 5.3
Path Traversal Leading to File Deletion in Ad Hoc Transfer and Web Transfer in Progress WS_FTP Server
Improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory in Progress Software WS_FTP Server versions prior to 2024.0.7 and 2025.0.4 on Windows could allow an unauthenticated attacker to affect files outside the intended directory.
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Medium 5.3
YesWiki before 4.7.0 Template Traversal via BazarListeAction template Parameter
YesWiki before 4.7.0 contains a path traversal vulnerability in BazarListeAction that allows unauthenticated attackers to select arbitrary templates within the @bazar Twig namespace via the template GET parameter. Attackers can append crafted template values …
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Medium 6.2
Entire CLI: Path traversal in checkpoint session metadata allows arbitrary file write during resume/rewind
Entire CLI hooks into Git workflows to capture AI agent sessions. Prior to version 0.7.7, a path traversal vulnerability in Entire CLI allows an attacker with push access to the checkpoints repository to craft malicious checkpoint metadata that causes entire …
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Medium 5.4
EKKOLearnAI ekko-studio Media Generation API media.ts saveGeneratedImages file inclusion
A flaw has been found in EKKOLearnAI ekko-studio up to 1.0.6. This vulnerability affects the function saveGeneratedImages of the file packages/server/src/modules/studio/controllers/media.ts of the component Media Generation API. This manipulation of the argum…
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Medium 5.3
pdfmake 0.3.8 before 0.3.12 Local File Policy Bypass via SVG Images
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Medium 6.3
oretnom23 file-management-system-php index.php include file inclusion
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Medium —
Graphify Fortran extractor: incomplete cpp #include hardening allows arbitrary host-file read/exfiltration when indexing an untrusted repo
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Medium 4.3
docling-core 2.5.0 before 2.103.0 Local File Disclosure via Plain Path ImageRef
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Medium 5.9
SimplePie through 1.9.0 Local File Read via file:// Redirect
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Medium 4.9
Netgate pfSense CE through 2.9.0 Local File Read via Dynamic DNS Update URL
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Medium 5.8
Markdown Preview Enhanced: Arbitrary File Write via updateMarkdown Command Without Path Validation
Markdown Preview Enhanced is a Markdown preview extension for Visual Studio Code. Prior to 0.8.30, the _crossnote.updateMarkdown command in Markdown Preview Enhanced accepts an arbitrary URI and attacker-controlled content, then passes them to vscode.workspac…
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Medium 6.5
Frappe Framework before v16.30.0 Arbitrary File Read via Outgoing Email HTML
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Medium 6.5
ConvertX through 0.19.0 Arbitrary File Read via Pandoc Converter
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Medium 4.4
InnoShop 0.9.2 Local File Disclosure via AI Core MCP file_upload Tool
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Medium 6.3
Backstage: Improper input validation in Confluence to Markdown scaffolder module
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Medium 4.4
Backstage: Improper input validation in cloud storage URL readers
Backstage is an open framework for building developer portals. Prior to 0.17.8, the @backstage/backend-defaults package is affected by improper input validation in cloud storage url readers. An attacker with write access to a cloud storage bucket used by Back…
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Medium 6.7
Local Arbitrary File Write Leading to Local Privilege Escalation in ClearPass Policy Manager OnGuard Agent
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Medium 4.1
Quasar Framework: App Vite build cleanup can recursively remove unsafe configured output directories
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Medium 6.5
In JetBrains TeamCity before 2026.2.1 missing validation of Git submodule URLs allowed reading local repositories on th…
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Medium 4.3
Docling: Crafted DoclingDocument JSON embeds local image files into converted output
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Medium 4.9
Ghost: Path Traversal via Locale Setting
Ghost is a Node.js content management system. From 1.20.0 until 6.64.0, a vulnerability in how Ghost loads theme translation files allowed an authenticated Administrator to read JSON files outside of the active theme's directory, potentially exposing server c…
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Medium 5.1
Arbitrary file-write via extension installation in P4Search
Perforce P4 Search prior to 2026.4.2 does not validate file names supplied to its extension installation feature. An attacker with super-user or service-token privileges can write files with arbitrary content to the P4 Search installation directory.
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Medium 5.8
Nx: Path traversal in nx migrate package-migrations extraction
Nx is a monorepo solution for TypeScript and polyglot codebases. From 13.10.0 until 22.7.10 and 23.2.1, Nx migration planning reads the nx-migrations.migrations value from a target package manifest without validating that it is a contained relative path. A ho…
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Medium 4.9
Ghost 1.20.0 before 6.64.0 Path Traversal via Locale Setting
Ghost from 1.20.0 before 6.64.0 contains a path traversal vulnerability in theme translation file loading that allows authenticated administrators to read JSON files outside the active theme directory. Attackers can manipulate the locale setting to load JSON …
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Medium 5.6
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Medium 6.7
Kiteworks Core Privilege Escalation through External Control of File Name or Path
Two Kiteworks Core cluster-management operations did not validate file paths supplied to them, so an attacker holding root on one node of a cluster could write files as root onto another node and cause them to be executed there. Exploitation requires backend …
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Medium 6.5
Kiteworks Email Protection Gateway Arbitrary File Write through Server-Side Template Injection
An authenticated Email Protection Gateway administrator holding only limited, delegated permissions could write files with attacker-controlled content to arbitrary locations accessible to the Email Protection Gateway service account. This exceeds the administ…
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Medium 6.8
Cato Windows SDP Client arbitrary file disclosure due to improper TLS certificate validation
Cato Windows SDP Client before version 6.12.6 contains an arbitrary file disclosure vulnerability. A low-privileged local user can cause the Windows service, running as Local System, to read and disclose arbitrary local files due to improper file path validat…