CVE-2023-24815: eclipse vert.x-web Path Traversal

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2023-24815 is a medium (CVSS 5.3) Path Traversal vulnerability in eclipse vert.x-web. EPSS estimates a 0.92% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 59.6% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 09-02-2023
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 10-03-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Vert.x-Web is a set of building blocks for building web applications in the java programming language. When running vertx web applications that serve files using `StaticHandler` on Windows Operating Systems and Windows File Systems, if the mount point is a wildcard (`*`) then an attacker can exfiltrate any class path resource. When computing the relative path to locate the resource, in case of wildcards, the code: `return "/" + rest;` from `Utils.java` returns the user input (without validation) as the segment to lookup. Even though checks are performed to avoid escaping the sandbox, given that the input was not sanitized `\` are not properly handled and an attacker can build a path that is valid within the classpath. This issue only affects users deploying in windows environments and upgrading is the advised remediation path. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

• CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')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.