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
828 results · Feed
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Critical 9.8
AUVESY Versiondog
There are multiple API function codes that permit reading and writing data to or from files and directories, which could lead to the manipulation and/or the deletion of files.
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High 8.8
Windows version of Multipass unauthenticated localhost tcp control socket can perform mounts
The Windows version of Multipass before 1.7.0 allowed any local process to connect to the localhost TCP control socket to perform mounts from the operating system to a guest, allowing for privilege escalation.
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Medium 4.4
Cisco ADE-OS Local File Inclusion Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the restricted shell of Cisco Evolved Programmable Network (EPN) Manager, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), and Cisco Prime Infrastructure could allow an authenticated, local attacker to identify directories and write arbitrary files to…
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High 8.2
Code execution in VSCode-bazel via malicious Bazel config files
An attacker can place a crafted JSON config file into the project folder pointing to a custom executable. VScode-bazel allows the workspace path to lint *.bzl files to be set via this config file. As such the attacker is able to execute any executable on the …
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Medium 6.5CVE-2021-27250 EPSS 67%
This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of D-L…
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Medium 5.3CVE-2021-21343 EPSS 47%
XStream is vulnerable to an Arbitrary File Deletion on the local host when unmarshalling as long as the executing process has sufficient rights
XStream is a Java library to serialize objects to XML and back again. In XStream before version 1.4.16, there is a vulnerability where the processed stream at unmarshalling time contains type information to recreate the formerly written objects. XStream creat…
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Unscored —
The WADashboard component of WebAccess/SCADA Versions 9.0 and prior may allow an attacker to control or influence a pat…
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Unscored —
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory in QTS
A vulnerability has been reported to affect earlier QNAP devices running QTS 4.3.4 to 4.3.6. Caused by improper limitations of a pathname to a restricted directory, this vulnerability allows for renaming arbitrary files on the target system, if exploited. QNA…
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Medium 5.8
Absolute path traversal vulnerability in QES
If exploited, this absolute path traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to traverse files in File Station. QNAP has already fixed these issues in QES 2.1.1 Build 20201006 and later.
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Medium 4.9
Cisco IoT Field Network Director File Overwrite Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the file system of Cisco IoT Field Network Director (FND) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to overwrite files on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient file system protections. An attacker could exploit th…
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High 8.0
Privilege Escalation in Boxstarter
The Boxstarter installer before version 2.13.0 configures C:\ProgramData\Boxstarter to be in the system-wide PATH environment variable. However, this directory is writable by normal, unprivileged users. To exploit the vulnerability, place a DLL in this direct…
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High 8.2
An exploitable code execution vulnerability exists in the multiple devices functionality of F2fs-Tools F2fs.Fsck 1.13. …
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Medium 5.9
Kubernetes ingress-nginx Compromise of auth via subset/superset namespace names
The Kubernetes ingress-nginx component prior to version 0.28.0 allows a user with the ability to create namespaces and to read and create ingress objects to overwrite the password file of another ingress which uses nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-type: basic…
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High 7.5
osc: stores downloaded (supposed) RPM in network-controlled filesystem paths
A External Control of File Name or Path vulnerability in osc of SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Development Tools 15, SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP5, SUSE Linux Enterprise Software Development Kit 12-SP4; openSUSE Leap 15.1, openSUSE F…
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Medium 6.2
Arbitrary File Deletion vulnerability in OctoberCMS
In OctoberCMS (october/october composer package) versions from 1.0.319 and before 1.0.466, an attacker can exploit this vulnerability to delete arbitrary local files of an October CMS server. The vulnerability is only exploitable by an authenticated backend u…
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Low 3.4
Upload whitelisted files to any directory in OctoberCMS
In OctoberCMS (october/october composer package) versions from 1.0.319 and before 1.0.466, an attacker can exploit this vulnerability to upload jpg, jpeg, bmp, png, webp, gif, ico, css, js, woff, woff2, svg, ttf, eot, json, md, less, sass, scss, xml files to …
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High 7.2
PAN-OS: OS command injection or arbitrary file deletion vulnerability
An OS command injection and external control of filename vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS allows authenticated administrators to execute code with root privileges or delete arbitrary system files and impact the system's integrity or cause a denial o…
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High 7.2
PAN-OS: Panorama SD WAN arbitrary file creation
An external control of filename vulnerability in the SD WAN component of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS Panorama allows an authenticated administrator to send a request that results in the creation and write of an arbitrary file on all firewalls managed by the Pan…
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Medium 6.5
PAN-OS: Authenticated administrator can delete arbitrary system file
An external control of filename vulnerability in the command processing of PAN-OS allows an authenticated administrator to delete arbitrary system files affecting the integrity of the system or causing denial of service to all PAN-OS services. This issue affe…
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High 8.8CVE-2020-1631 Exploited
Out of Cycle Security Advisory: Junos OS: Security vulnerability in J-Web and web based (HTTP/HTTPS) services
A vulnerability in the HTTP/HTTPS service used by J-Web, Web Authentication, Dynamic-VPN (DVPN), Firewall Authentication Pass-Through with Web-Redirect, and Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) allows an unauthenticated attacker to perform local file inclusion (LFI)…
KEV Mar 25, 2022 -
High 7.8
Secdo: Privilege escalation via hardcoded script path
Secdo tries to execute a script at a hardcoded path if present, which allows a local authenticated user with 'create folders or append data' access to the root of the OS disk (C:\) to gain system privileges if the path does not already exist or is writable. T…
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High 7.3
Externally Controlled Reference to a Resource in Another Sphere, Improper Input Validation, and External Control of File Name or Path in Ansible
A vulnerability was found in Ansible Engine versions 2.9.x before 2.9.3, 2.8.x before 2.8.8, 2.7.x before 2.7.16 and earlier, where in Ansible's nxos_file_copy module can be used to copy files to a flash or bootflash on NXOS devices. Malicious code could craf…
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Unscored —
Naver Cloud Explorer before 2.2.2.11 allows the attacker can move a local file in any path on the filesystem as a syste…
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High 7.5
Arbitrary File Read in html-pdf
The html-pdf package 2.2.0 for Node.js has an arbitrary file read vulnerability via an HTML file that uses XMLHttpRequest to access a file:/// URL.
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Unscored —
Kibana versions before 6.4.3 and 5.6.13 contain an arbitrary file inclusion flaw in the Console plugin. An attacker wit…
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Unscored —
Advantech WebAccess 8.3.1 and earlier has a .dll component that is susceptible to external control of file name or path…
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Unscored —
In Advantech WebAccess versions V8.2_20170817 and prior, WebAccess versions V8.3.0 and prior, WebAccess Dashboard versi…
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High 8.3
Ecava IntegraXor SCADA Server External Control of File Name or Path
Ecava IntegraXor SCADA Server Stable 4.1.4360 and earlier and Beta 4.1.4392 and earlier allows remote attackers to read or write to arbitrary files, and obtain sensitive information or cause a denial of service (disk consumption), via the CSV export feature.