CVE-2025-66905
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2025-66905 is a path traversal vulnerability in the Takes web framework that allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files from the host system by including directory traversal sequences (../) in HTTP request paths. This affects applications using Takes framework version 2.0-SNAPSHOT and earlier that serve files via TkFiles. The vulnerability enables unauthorized file access without proper path canonicalization.
💻 Affected Systems
- Takes web framework
📦 What is this software?
Tkfiles by Takes
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise through reading sensitive files like /etc/passwd, SSH keys, configuration files, or database credentials, potentially leading to lateral movement and data exfiltration.
Likely Case
Unauthorized reading of application configuration files, source code, or sensitive data files stored on the same server as the web application.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper file system permissions restrict web user access and sensitive files are stored outside web-accessible directories.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires only HTTP requests with path traversal sequences. The public report includes demonstration of the vulnerability.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not yet released
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/yegor256/takes
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Monitor the Takes GitHub repository for security updates. 2. Apply the patch when available. 3. Restart affected applications after patching.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement path validation middleware
allAdd custom request filtering to reject paths containing directory traversal sequences before they reach TkFiles.
Implement Java filter that checks request.getPath() for '../' sequences and returns 400 Bad Request if found
Use alternative file serving
allReplace TkFiles with a different file serving component that properly canonicalizes paths.
Replace TkFiles usage with secure alternatives like properly configured static file handlers
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block requests containing directory traversal patterns
- Restrict file system permissions for the web application user to limit accessible directories
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Test by sending HTTP requests with ../ sequences to file endpoints and checking if restricted files are accessible.Check Version:
Check pom.xml or build.gradle for takes dependency version, or check runtime with: java -cp takes.jar org.takes.VersionVerify Fix Applied:
After applying workarounds, test that path traversal attempts return error responses instead of file contents.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing '../' or '..\' sequences in URLs
- Unusual file access patterns from web application user
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with encoded traversal sequences (%2e%2e%2f)
- Multiple failed attempts followed by successful file reads
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (url="*../*" OR url="*..\\*" OR url="*%2e%2e%2f*")