CVE-2018-3731: Public Path Traversal Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-rwv8-jvff-jq28
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-3731 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Public libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves path traversal in public. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.1.3.

CVE-2018-3731 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-3731
GHSA Identifier GHSA-rwv8-jvff-jq28
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 Public
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 CVE-2018-3731

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

public fixed: 0.1.3 
npm install public@0.1.3
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 public

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2018-3731, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls public

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Public in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.1.3), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls public 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 Public, 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

Versions of `public` before 0.1.3 are vulnerable to path traversal. This is due to lack of file path sanitization which could lead to any file the parent process has access to on the server to be read by malicious user. ## Recommendation Update to version 0.1.3 or later.

CVE-2018-3731 Affected Public Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.1.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
public
npm/public
npm
< 0.1.3
0.1.3

References

NVD — CVE-2018-3731 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-3731
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/tnantoka/public/commit/eae8ad8017b260f8667ded5e12801bd72b877af2
hackerone.com/reports/312918 WEB
https://hackerone.com/reports/312918
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rwv8-jvff-jq28
www.npmjs.com/advisories/571 WEB
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/571

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-3731?
CVE-2018-3731 is a security vulnerability in Public involving Path Traversal in public under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Public versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.1.3 across affected packages: public.
What version fixes CVE-2018-3731?
Upgrading to 0.1.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is public affected?
Yes, public is affected in releases prior to 0.1.3. Upgrade your dependency to 0.1.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-3731?
CVE-2018-3731 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-2018-3731?
CVE-2018-3731 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 CVE-2018-3731?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls public'. 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-rwv8-jvff-jq28",
  "modified" : "2023-01-31T01:37:12Z",
  "published" : "2018-07-18T21:20:30Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-3731" ],
  "summary" : "Path Traversal in public",
  "details" : "Versions of `public` before 0.1.3 are vulnerable to path traversal. This is due to lack of file path sanitization which could lead to any file the parent process has access to on the server to be read by malicious user.\n\n\n## Recommendation\n\nUpdate to version 0.1.3 or later.",
  "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" : "public"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.1.3"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.1.2"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-3731"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/tnantoka/public/commit/eae8ad8017b260f8667ded5e12801bd72b877af2"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://hackerone.com/reports/312918"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rwv8-jvff-jq28"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/571"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-06-16T21:56:15Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2018-06-07T02:29:00Z"
  }
}