cognita: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
CVE-2025-27519 is a critical-severity improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory vulnerability in cognita from Truefoundry, with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 9.3 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected cognita versions: < a78bd065e05a1b30a53a3386cc02e08c317d2243. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 1.39% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 73% of scored CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of cognita you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truefoundry | cognita | < a78bd065e05a1b30a53a3386cc02e08c317d2243 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Attack requirements
- NoneThe attack does not depend on a particular deployment or configuration.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on the vulnerable system.
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of integrity on the vulnerable system.
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of availability on the vulnerable system.
- Confidentiality (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of confidentiality on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Integrity (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of integrity on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Availability (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of availability on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Cognita is a RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) Framework for building modular, open source applications for production by TrueFoundry. A path traversal issue exists at /v1/internal/upload-to-local-directory which is enabled when the Local env variable is set to true, such as when Cognita is setup using Docker. Because the docker environment sets up the backend uvicorn server with auto reload enabled, when an attacker overwrites the /app/backend/__init__.py file, the file will automatically be reloaded and executed. This allows an attacker to get remote code execution in the context of the Docker container. This vulnerability is fixed in commit a78bd065e05a1b30a53a3386cc02e08c317d2243.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
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 developers prevent this class of flaw
- For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
- Use an application firewall that can detect attacks against this weakness. It can be beneficial in cases in which the code cannot be fixed (because it is controlled by a third party), as an emergency prevention measure while more comprehensive software assurance measures are applied, or to provide defense in depth.
More Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory vulnerabilities (CWE-22)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory vulnerabilities
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
Spotted an error? Tell us.