CVE-2024-5550: Exposure of Sensitive Information via Arbitrary System Path Lookup in h2oai/h2o-3

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2024-5550 is a medium (CVSS 5.3) vulnerability in h2o. EPSS estimates a 0.83% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 57.7% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 06-06-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 15-10-2025
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

In h2oai/h2o-3 version 3.40.0.4, an exposure of sensitive information vulnerability exists due to an arbitrary system path lookup feature. This vulnerability allows any remote user to view full paths in the entire file system where h2o-3 is hosted. Specifically, the issue resides in the Typeahead API call, which when requested with a typeahead lookup of '/', exposes the root filesystem including directories such as /home, /usr, /bin, among others. This vulnerability could allow attackers to explore the entire filesystem, and when combined with a Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability, could make exploitation of the server trivial.

• CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted DirectoryThe 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.