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Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVE-2020-15097

Severity High
Score 9.1/10

Summary

loklak is an open-source server application which is able to collect messages from various sources, including twitter. The server contains a search index and a peer-to-peer index sharing interface. All messages are stored in an elasticsearch index. In loklak less than or equal to commit 5f48476, a path traversal vulnerability exists. Insufficient input validation in the APIs exposed by the loklak server allowed a directory traversal vulnerability. Any admin configuration and files readable by the app available on the hosted file system can be retrieved by the attacker. Furthermore, user-controlled content could be written to any admin config and files readable by the application. This has been patched in commit 50dd692. Users will need to upgrade their hosted instances of loklak to not be vulnerable to this exploit.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • HIGH
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • HIGH
  • NONE

CWE-22 - Path Traversal

Path traversal (or directory traversal), is a vulnerability that allows malicious users to traverse the server's root directory, gaining access to arbitrary files and folders such as application code & data, back-end credentials, and sensitive operating system files. In the worst-case scenario, an attacker could potentially execute arbitrary files on the server, resulting in a denial of service attack. Such an exploit may severely impact the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of an application.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published