GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj: Lactate Path Traversal Vulnerability

HIGH
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Lactate libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves directory traversal in lactate. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj
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 Lactate
Package Ecosystem npm
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 GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj

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

lactate fixed: Latest secure release 
npm install lactate@Latest secure release
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

npm ls lactate

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls lactate

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Lactate 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 npm ls lactate command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

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 Lactate, 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

A crafted `GET` request can be leveraged to traverse the directory structure of a host using the lactate web server package, and request arbitrary files outside of the specified web root. This allows for a remote attacker to gain access to arbitrary files on the filesystem that the process has access to read. Mitigating factors: Only files that the user running `lactate` has permission to read will be accessible via this vulnerability. [Proof of concept](https://hackerone.com/reports/296645): Please globally install the `lactate` package and `cd` to a directory you wish to serve assets from. Next, run `lactate -p 8081` to start serving files from this location. The following cURL request can be used to demonstrate this vulnerability by requesting the target `/etc/passwd` file: ``` curl "http://127.0.0.1:8081/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/etc/passwd" ``` ``` root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin [...] ``` ## Recommendation As there is currently no fix for this issue selecting an alternative static web server would be the best choice.

GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj Affected Lactate Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
lactate
npm/lactate
npm
≤ 0.13.12

References

Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/RetireJS/retire.js/commit/800c8140884eaa5753a49308f560c925fe97b9a5
hackerone.com/reports/296645 WEB
https://hackerone.com/reports/296645
snyk.io/vuln/npm:lactate:20... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/npm:lactate:20180123
www.npmjs.com/advisories/560 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/560

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj?
GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj is a security vulnerability in Lactate involving Directory Traversal in lactate under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Lactate versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: lactate.
What version fixes GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is lactate affected?
Yes, lactate is affected in releases prior to Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj?
GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj 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 GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj?
GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj 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 npm dependencies for GHSA-68gr-cmcp-g3mj?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls lactate'. 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-68gr-cmcp-g3mj",
  "modified" : "2021-08-16T23:34:10Z",
  "published" : "2019-06-14T16:39:31Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "Directory Traversal in lactate",
  "details" : "A crafted `GET` request can be leveraged to traverse the directory structure of a host using the lactate web server package, and request arbitrary files outside of the specified web root. This allows for a remote attacker to gain access to arbitrary files on the filesystem that the process has access to read.\n\nMitigating factors:\nOnly files that the user running `lactate` has permission to read will be accessible via this vulnerability.\n\n\n[Proof of concept](https://hackerone.com/reports/296645):\nPlease globally install the `lactate` package and `cd` to a directory you wish to serve assets from. Next, run `lactate -p 8081` to start serving files from this location.\n\nThe following cURL request can be used to demonstrate this vulnerability by requesting the target `/etc/passwd` file:\n\n```\ncurl \"http://127.0.0.1:8081/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/%2e%2e/etc/passwd\"\n```\n```\nroot:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash\ndaemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin\nbin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin\nsys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin\n[...]\n```\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nAs there is currently no fix for this issue selecting an alternative static web server would be the best choice.",
  "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" : "npm",
      "name" : "lactate"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "0.13.12"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/RetireJS/retire.js/commit/800c8140884eaa5753a49308f560c925fe97b9a5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackerone.com/reports/296645"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/npm:lactate:20180123"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/560"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2019-06-14T16:39:14Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}