Vulnerabilities in pkg:pypi/xrootd
PACKAGEGHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.3) path traversal vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Xrootd libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves xrootd has path traversal in directory listing that allows access to the parent directory via trailing ".." pattern. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 5.9.2.
pkg:pypi/xrootd
Vulnerability advisories affecting package pkg:pypi/xrootd. Select an advisory below to view technical details or fixes.
| Advisory ID | CVE / NVD | Severity | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5 | - | MODERATE | xrootd has path traversal in directory listing that allows access to the parent directory via trailing ".." pattern |
GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 5.3
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:L/I:N/A:N).
How to Fix GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Xrootd dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
pip install xrootd>=5.9.2
Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
pip show xrootd
How to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your Python environment is affected by GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5, inspect your installed packages using pip:
pip show xrootd
Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Xrootd in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 5.9.2), your application is affected.
Note: The pip show xrootd command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.
Technical Details
Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation, where the product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. In Xrootd, 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
GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5 Affected Xrootd Versions
1 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
xrootd
|
PyPI |
< 5.9.2
|
5.9.2
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5?
Which Xrootd versions are affected?
What version fixes GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5?
Is xrootd affected?
What is the CVSS score of GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5?
What CWE is associated with GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5?
How can I check PyPI dependencies for GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5",
"modified" : "2026-04-10T19:50:39Z",
"published" : "2026-04-10T19:50:39Z",
"aliases" : [ ],
"summary" : "xrootd has path traversal in directory listing that allows access to the parent directory via trailing \"..\" pattern",
"details" : "## Summary\n\nA path traversal vulnerability in XRootD allows users to escape the exported directory scope and enumerate the contents of the parent directory by appending `/..` (specifically without trailing slash) to an exported path in `xrdfs ls` or `HTTP PROPFIND` requests.\n\nThis bypass ignores the `all.export` restriction.\n\n## Affected component\n\n`src/XrdXrootd/XrdXrootdXeq.cc`, and more precisely the functions `rpCheck()` and `Squash()` used in `do_Dirlist()` ([link](https://github.com/xrootd/xrootd/blob/19aa6dee76906fb4d56ded55e49bbe4171ade915/src/XrdXrootd/XrdXrootdXeq.cc#L696)), as they do not check if the path ends with \"..\" (without trailing slash).\nThen the path is passed directly to the filesystem layer.\n\n## PoC\n\n### Configuration\n\n- **Configuration file:** \n```conf\nxrd.port 1094\n\n# Exposing only /alice/\noss.localroot /srv/xrootd/data/\nall.export /alice/\n\n# HTTP\nxrd.protocol http:1094 libXrdHttp.so\n\n# Logs / monitoring\nall.adminpath /var/spool/xrootd\nall.pidpath /var/run/xrootd\n```\n\n- **Filesystem layout on the server:**\n```\n/srv/xrootd/data/\n├── alice/ ← only exported directory\n├── bob/ ← not exported\n└── secret.txt ← not exported\n```\n\n- **Starting the server:** `xrootd -c /etc/xrootd/xrootd.cfg` \n\n### Steps to reproduce\n\n**Normal behavior (access outside export is denied):**\n```bash\n$ xrdfs root://<xrootd-server> ls /\n[ERROR] Server responded with an error: [3010] Stating path '/' is disallowed.\n```\n\n**Bypass via trailing `..`:**\n```bash\n$ xrdfs root://<xrootd-server>ls /alice/..\n/alice/../alice\n/alice/../bob\n/alice/../secret.txt\n```\n \n**Also exploitable via HTTP PROPFIND:**\n\n```bash\ncurl -X PROPFIND 'http://<xrootd-server>:1094/alice/..' \\\n --path-as-is \\\n -H \"Depth: 1\"\n```\nReturns HTTP 200 with full listing of the parent directory, including unexported entries (`bob/`, `secret.txt`).\n\n**However, file download via this path traversal is blocked:**\n```bash\n$ xrdcp root://<xrootd-server>/alice/../secret.txt .\n[0B/0B][100%][==================================================][0B/s] \nRun: [ERROR] Server responded with an error: [3010] Opening relative path 'alice/../secret.txt' is disallowed. (source)\n```\n\n## Impact\nAn attacker can enumerate directories and filenames outside the authorized export scope defined by `all.export`. In the example above, a server exporting only `/alice/` leaks the existence of `/bob/` and `secret.txt` located in the parent directory (`oss.localroot`).\n\nFile download is not possible through this vector, as `xrdcp` correctly rejects the path with error 3010. The impact seems therefore limited to **information disclosure** (directory and filename enumeration).\n\nThis vulnerability could affect all XRootD deployments regardless of authentication configuration, as it bypasses the export path restriction itself.\n\n## Suggested fix\n\nIn `rpCheck()` (`src/XrdXrootd/XrdXrootdXeq.cc`), change:\n```cpp\n// Before\nif (fn[0] == '.' && fn[1] == '.' && fn[2] == '/') return 1;\n\n// After\nif (fn[0] == '.' && fn[1] == '.' && (fn[2] == '/' || fn[2] == '\\0')) return 1;\n```",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "PyPI",
"name" : "xrootd"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"fixed" : "5.9.2"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/xrootd/xrootd/security/advisories/GHSA-vj8v-p5vw-m6v5"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/xrootd/xrootd/commit/45efac7267a115ca4f2102214498e8cb011eb69b"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/xrootd/xrootd"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "http://github.com/xrootd/xrootd/releases/tag/v5.9.2"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20", "CWE-22" ],
"severity" : "MODERATE",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2026-04-10T19:50:39Z",
"nvd_published_at" : null
}
}