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OpenAdvisories
High · 7.5 Public exploit CVE-2022-23457 EUVD-2022-1678GHSA-8m5h-hrqm-pxm2

Path Traversal in ESAPI

Published Apr 25, 2022 · Updated Nov 3, 2025 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Vendor: OWASP ESAPI Product: org.owasp.esapi:esapi Package: libowasp-esapi-java Package: libowasp-esapi-java Package: org.owasp.esapi:esapi Ecosystem: Debian Ecosystem: Maven Ecosystem: Ubuntu

Description

ESAPI (The OWASP Enterprise Security API) is a free, open source, web application security control library. Prior to version 2.3.0.0, the default implementation of `Validator.getValidDirectoryPath(String, String, File, boolean)` may incorrectly treat the tested input string as a child of the specified parent directory. This potentially could allow control-flow bypass checks to be defeated if an attack can specify the entire string representing the 'input' path. This vulnerability is patched in release 2.3.0.0 of ESAPI. As a workaround, it is possible to write one's own implementation of the Validator interface. However, maintainers do not recommend this.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
OWASP ESAPI org.owasp.esapi:esapi 2.3.0.0 – < 2.3.0.0 2.3.0.0

Fixed in Linux distributions

Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.

Debian

Security tracker ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 13 libowasp-esapi-java 2.4.0.0-1 —
Debian 12 libowasp-esapi-java 2.4.0.0-1 —
Debian 11 libowasp-esapi-java 2.4.0.0-0+deb11u1 DLA-4246-1

Ubuntu

Security tracker ↗
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS libowasp-esapi-java 2.2.3.1-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS libowasp-esapi-java 2.1.0-3ubuntu0.20.04.1~esm1 —
Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS libowasp-esapi-java 2.1.0-3ubuntu0.18.04.1~esm1 —
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS libowasp-esapi-java 2.1.0-2ubuntu0.1~esm1 —

Public exploits

Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.

Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.

GitHub 1 repository

Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
Maven org.owasp.esapi:esapi < 2.3.0.0 2.3.0.0 GHSA-8m5h-hrqm-pxm2

Advisories 4

References