CVE-2021-44138: Resin Path Traversal Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-4w2q-9hp2-vxj5
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-44138 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Resin libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves path traversal in caucho resin. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2021-44138 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-44138
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4w2q-9hp2-vxj5
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Affected Product Resin
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2021-44138

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Resin dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

com.caucho:resin fixed: Latest secure release 
<dependency>
    <groupId>com.caucho</groupId>
    <artifactId>resin</artifactId>
    <version>Latest secure release</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.caucho

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2021-44138, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.caucho

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Resin in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than the patched release), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.caucho command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'), where 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. In Resin, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

There is a Directory traversal vulnerability in Caucho Resin, as distributed in Resin 4.0.52 - 4.0.56, which allows remote attackers to read files in arbitrary directories via a ; in a pathname within an HTTP request.

CVE-2021-44138 Affected Resin Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
com.caucho:resin
maven/com.caucho/resin
Maven
≥ 4.0.52
≤ 4.0.56

References

NVD — CVE-2021-44138 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44138
Resin Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/maybe-why-not/reponame/issues/2

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-44138?
CVE-2021-44138 is a security vulnerability in Resin involving Path Traversal in Caucho Resin under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Resin versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: com.caucho:resin.
What version fixes CVE-2021-44138?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is resin affected?
Yes, com.caucho:resin is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-44138?
CVE-2021-44138 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-44138?
CVE-2021-44138 is classified under CWE-22: Improper 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.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2021-44138?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=com.caucho'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-4w2q-9hp2-vxj5",
  "modified" : "2022-04-22T20:22:27Z",
  "published" : "2022-04-05T00:00:28Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-44138" ],
  "summary" : "Path Traversal in Caucho Resin",
  "details" : "There is a Directory traversal vulnerability in Caucho Resin, as distributed in Resin 4.0.52 - 4.0.56, which allows remote attackers to read files in arbitrary directories via a ; in a pathname within an HTTP request.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "com.caucho:resin"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.0.52"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "4.0.56"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-44138"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/maybe-why-not/reponame/issues/2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-04-22T20:22:27Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-04-04T13:15:00Z"
  }
}