CVE-2022-31572
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to perform absolute path traversal attacks in the ceee-vip/cockybook repository, enabling unauthorized file access. It affects any system running this Flask-based application with the vulnerable code. The exploit leverages unsafe use of Flask's send_file function to read arbitrary files on the server.
💻 Affected Systems
- ceee-vip/cockybook
📦 What is this software?
Cockybook by Cockybook Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete server compromise through reading sensitive files like /etc/passwd, SSH keys, or database credentials, potentially leading to remote code execution.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to sensitive configuration files, source code, or user data stored on the server filesystem.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper file permissions and web server sandboxing, though some information disclosure may still occur.
🎯 Exploit Status
Path traversal vulnerabilities are well-understood and easily weaponized with simple HTTP requests.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: N/A
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/github/securitylab/issues/669
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Remove or replace the vulnerable repository with a secure alternative. 2. No official patch exists as this is an abandoned project. 3. Consider implementing proper input validation and path sanitization if maintaining the codebase.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement Path Sanitization
allAdd input validation to sanitize file paths before passing to send_file
# Python code to sanitize paths
import os
from werkzeug.utils import secure_filename
safe_path = os.path.join(base_directory, secure_filename(user_input))
Restrict File Access with Web Server
linuxConfigure web server to restrict file access to specific directories
# Nginx example
location /files/ {
internal;
alias /var/www/files/;
}
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove the application from internet-facing networks
- Implement strict network segmentation and firewall rules to limit access
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Review Flask code for unsafe send_file usage with user-controlled paths, or test with path traversal payloads like '../../etc/passwd'Check Version:
Check repository commit history or deployment date against 2015-04-16Verify Fix Applied:
Test that path traversal attempts return proper error responses instead of file contents📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing '../' sequences
- Access to unexpected file paths in web logs
- 404 errors for legitimate files that should exist
Network Indicators:
- Unusual file download patterns
- Requests for known sensitive file paths
SIEM Query:
web_access_logs WHERE url CONTAINS '../' OR url CONTAINS '..%2F'