CVE-2023-40274: Zola Path Traversal Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-xvv9-5j67-3rpq
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-22
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-40274 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) affecting Zola libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves zola path traversal vulnerability. Remediation is available in the latest vendor maintenance releases.

CVE-2023-40274 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-40274
GHSA Identifier GHSA-xvv9-5j67-3rpq
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 Zola
Package Ecosystem crates.io
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-2023-40274

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

zola fixed: Latest secure release 
Upgrade zola to 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: 

inspect dependencies for zola

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2023-40274, inspect your project dependencies for Zola:

inspect dependencies for zola

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Zola 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: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

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 Zola, 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

An issue was discovered in zola 0.13.0 through 0.17.2. The custom implementation of a web server, available via the "zola serve" command, allows directory traversal. The `handle_request` function, used by the server to process HTTP requests, does not account for sequences of special path control characters (`../`) in the URL when serving a file, which allows one to escape the webroot of the server and read arbitrary files from the filesystem.

CVE-2023-40274 Affected Zola Versions

1 component(s)
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
zola
 crates.io
≥ 0.13.0
≤ 0.17.2

References

NVD — CVE-2023-40274 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40274
Zola Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/getzola/zola/issues/2257
Zola Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/getzola/zola/pull/2258
Zola Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/getzola/zola

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-40274?
CVE-2023-40274 is a security vulnerability in Zola involving zola Path Traversal vulnerability under CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal').
Which Zola versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to current release patches across affected packages: zola.
What version fixes CVE-2023-40274?
Upgrading to current release patches (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is zola affected?
Yes, zola 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-2023-40274?
CVE-2023-40274 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-2023-40274?
CVE-2023-40274 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 crates.io dependencies for CVE-2023-40274?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for zola'. 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-xvv9-5j67-3rpq",
  "modified" : "2023-08-22T18:39:53Z",
  "published" : "2023-08-14T03:30:32Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-40274" ],
  "summary" : "zola Path Traversal vulnerability",
  "details" : "An issue was discovered in zola 0.13.0 through 0.17.2. The custom implementation of a web server, available via the \"zola serve\" command, allows directory traversal. The `handle_request` function, used by the server to process HTTP requests, does not account for sequences of special path control characters (`../`) in the URL when serving a file, which allows one to escape the webroot of the server and read arbitrary files from the filesystem.",
  "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" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "zola"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0.13.0"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "0.17.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40274"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/getzola/zola/issues/2257"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/getzola/zola/pull/2258"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/getzola/zola"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-22" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-08-14T21:33:07Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-08-14T01:15:47Z"
  }
}