External Control of File Name or Path
CWE-73
The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations.
We track 436 vulnerabilities of this type. 99% are rated high or critical, and the average CVSS score is 8.3. 6 have been exploited in real attacks.
How this weakness is prevented
- Architecture and Design: When the set of filenames is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames, and reject all other inputs. For example, ID 1 could map to inbox.txt and ID 2 could map to profile.txt. Features such as the ESAPI AccessReferenceMap provide this capability.
- Architecture and Design Operation: Run your code in a jail or similar sandbox environment that enforces strict boundaries between the process and the operating system. This may effectively restrict all access to files within a particular directory. Examples include the Unix chroot jail and AppArmor. In general, managed code may provide some protection. This may not be a feasible solution, and it only limits the impact to the operating system; the rest of your application may still be subject to compromise. Be careful to avoid CWE-243 and other weaknesses related to jails.
- Architecture and Design: 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.
- Implementation: Use a built-in path canonicalization function (such as realpath() in C) that produces the canonical version of the pathname, which effectively removes.. sequences and symbolic links (CWE-23, CWE-59).
- Installation Operation: Use OS-level permissions and run as a low-privileged user to limit the scope of any successful attack.
Latest External Control of File Name or Path vulnerabilities
- 9.9 Critical severity
core: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
OPNsense is a FreeBSD based firewall and routing platform. Prior to version 26.1.11, the Firewall Alias GeoIP importer's process_zip() and process_gzip() paths in src/opnsense/scripts/filter/lib/alias/geoip.py use an unvalidated CSV country_code value to const
- 7.1 High severity
fprime: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
F´ (F Prime) is a framework that enables development and deployment of spaceflight and other embedded software applications. Prior to 4.3.0, Svc::FileUplink handling of Fw::FilePacket::StartPacket destination paths FileUplink copies the packet-controlled desti
- 10.0 Critical severity
File Upload to Order: External Control of File Name or Path
The File Upload to Order WordPress plugin before 1.1.4 does not validate or confine a file path taken from attacker-controlled session data before deleting the file, and the action that performs the deletion is reachable by unauthenticated users, allowing them
- 8.7 High severity
Document Server: External Control of File Name or Path
A remote code execution vulnerability in ONLYOFFICE Document Server versions before10.0.0 allows an authenticated attacker with a valid Inbox-compatible JWT to execute arbitrary operating system commands as the ds service account. The Document Builder API impr
- 9.9 Critical severity
Xtraction: External Control of File Name or Path
An External Control of File Name or Path vulnerability in Ivanti Xtraction before version 2026.4 allows a remote authenticated attacker to redirect application-generated requests to an attacker-controlled endpoint and obtain EPMM connector credentials transmit
- 9.3 Critical severity
metabase: External Control of File Name or Path
Metabase is an open source business intelligence and analytics platform. From 1.55.0 until 1.58.16, 1.59.13, 1.60.9, and 1.61.4, native queries and actions against an H2 data source are passed through without restricting host-facing built-in functions. A user
- 7.5 High severity
frappe: External Control of File Name or Path
Frappe Framework before 15.117.0 and 16.x before 16.30.0 contains an arbitrary file read vulnerability in the handling of attributes in outgoing email HTML. Attackers who can supply outgoing email content can set an attribute value referencing a local file pat
- 8.1 High severity
ConvertX: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
ConvertX is a self-hosted file conversion service. Prior to 0.18.0, the ImageMagick converter uses the unsanitized convert_to parameter to construct an output path. If an authenticated user, or an unauthenticated user when ConvertX is configured to allow unaut
- 7.4 High severity
ShareFile Storage Zones Controller: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
In Progress ShareFile Storage Zones Controller v5.12.6 and below, FileCopyService uses a remote file identifier when constructing a local temporary file path without enforcing containment. This can cause FileCopyService to write attacker-controlled content to
- 7.1 High severity
LobsterAI: External Control of File Name or Path
LobsterAI 2026.5.27 through 2026.9.23 contains an external control of file path vulnerability in the skills:delete IPC handler that trusts the openclawSourceDir value from a skill's _meta.json during uninstall. Attackers who convince a user to install a crafte
- 7.5 High severity
datamodel-code-generator: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
datamodel-code-generator generates Python data models from schema definitions. From 0.59.0 until 0.81.0, an attacker-controlled Protobuf schema can supply absolute or parent-directory paths captured by WEAK_IMPORT_PATTERN and consumed by _write_missing_weak_im
- 7.1 High severity
quasar: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Quasar Framework is a framework for building high-performance Vue.js user interfaces. Prior to @quasar/icongenie 6.1.1, the icongenie generate --profile command accepted folder and name values from a user-supplied profile without constraining the resolved dest
- 8.1 High severity
payload: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Payload is a free and open source headless content management system. In versions before 3.90.0 and canary versions before 4.0.0-canary.34, an authenticated user who can update or delete uploads stored locally can cause file cleanup to remove unintended files
- 8.8 High severity
docling: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Docling simplifies document processing by parsing diverse formats and providing integrations with the generative AI ecosystem. From 2.94.0 until 2.132.0, callers that opt into LatexBackendOptions(tikz_engine="tectonic") invoke docling/backend/latex/engines/tec
- 8.4 High severity
Eclipse Che: External Control of File Name or Path
In Eclipse Che versions 7.29.0 and later, the GET `/api/scm/resolve` and `POST /api/factory/resolver` endpoints pass an attacker-controlled URL to `URLFetcher.fetch()`, which calls `new URL(url).openConnection()` with no scheme or host allow-list and returns t
- 8.4 High severity
Mitel MiVoice Office 400: External Control of File Name or Path
DigitalCanion has discovered a vulnerability that allows an attacker to cause the system to load an attacker-controlled .so file instead of the expected legitimate module. The loading mechanism relies on a predictable module name without adequately verifying t
- 8.5 High severity
Mitel MiVoice Office 400: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
DigitalCanion has discovered a vulnerability in the backup restoration functionality that allows an attacker with access to the configured backup repository to introduce arbitrary files into the system during restoration. The specific flaw exists within the ba
- 7.5 High severity
P4 (Helix Core): External Control of File Name or Path
Perforce P4 Search prior to 2026.4.2 does not restrict file paths written through its logging configuration interface. An attacker holding the service authentication token can write arbitrary files on the host, potentially leading to code execution as the P4 S
- 8.2 High severity
security-agent-mcp-server: External Control of File Name or Path
An argument injection issue in the diff scan operation in AWS security-agent-mcp-server before version 0.2.0 might allow context-dependent threat actors to create, overwrite, or truncate arbitrary files on the host outside the intended workspace directory via
- 9.0 Critical severity
n8n: External Control of File Name or Path
n8n versions before 1.123.80, from 2.0.0 before 2.39.6, and from 2.40.0 before 2.40.1 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the Supabase node where the tableId parameter is inserted into request paths without validation. Attackers can exploit workflows bin
- 8.1 High severity
Super Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder: External Control of File Name or Path
The Super Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary File/Directory Deletion in all versions up to, and including, 6.3.316. This is due to the `super_save_form` AJAX handler performing no capability check — allowing Subscr
- 8.7 High severity
Cache Enabler: External Control of File Name or Path
The Cache Enabler WordPress plugin before 1.8.17 does not validate a URL before using it to build a filesystem path in its cache purge routine, and does not confine the resulting deletion to the cache directory, allowing unauthenticated users to delete arbitra
- 10.0 Critical severity
BackupSheep WordPress Backup Plugin: External Control of File Name or Path
The BackupSheep WordPress Backup Plugin WordPress plugin through 1.8 does not properly validate its integration key, treating an unset or blank key as valid, which allows unauthenticated attackers to create and download full site backups, including the databas
- 7.5 High severity
deepwiki-open: External Control of File Name or Path
DeepWiki-Open through commit d92819a contains an unauthenticated arbitrary file read vulnerability in the GET /codemap/file endpoint via the repo_url parameter. Attackers can supply a non-URL repo_url value to bypass path containment checks and read any file a
- 8.1 High severity
OpenSave: External Control of File Name or Path
OpenSave through 2.4.0 fails to properly validate save paths supplied by paired peers in the manifest request handler. Attackers can specify arbitrary directories outside configured save locations to read and write files through manifest and sync routes.
- 8.5 High severity
SDP Client: Relative Path Traversal
Cato Networks SDP Client for Windows before 6.12.6 allows a local user to delete arbitrary files with SYSTEM privileges via improper validation of a client-supplied SID over a local IPC named pipe.
- 9.3 Critical severity
Google Merchant Center Feed: External Control of File Name or Path
Google Merchant Center Feed (gmfeed) module for PrestaShop is vulnerable to unauthenticated arbitrary file write in the feed.php endpoint. An unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted request that controls the output file name, path, extension, and content t
- 8.8 High severity
security-reporting: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
FreePBX is an open source IP PBX. Prior to versions 16.0.10 and 17.0.5, a critical vulnerability exists in the sound language upload and conversion functionality that allows an authenticated attacker to perform arbitrary file writes, leading directly to remote
- 7.6 High severity
siyuan: External Control of File Name or Path
SiYuan versions before v3.8.4 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the setNotebookIcon endpoint that allows authenticated administrators to create arbitrary directory trees and write files outside the workspace boundary. Attackers can supply directory tra
- 7.6 High severity
siyuan: External Control of File Name or Path
SiYuan versions before v3.8.4 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the checkoutRepo endpoint that allows authenticated administrators to write JSON files outside the workspace. Attackers can supply a sessionID parameter containing directory traversal sequ
- 8.8 High severity
PD45 Industrial Printer: External Control of File Name or Path
An Authenticated Remote Code Execution via Arbitrary File Write in the Intermec Fingerprint Command Interface vulnerability in the web management interface in Honeywell PD45 Industrial Printer version F10.19.010040, allows an authenticated user with access to
- 7.2 High severity
Plex Media Server External Control of File Name or Path Exploited
Plex Media Server before 1.43.3.10861 allows an admin user to write arbitrary files that may be executed on load. The preference TranscoderH264Options is appended verbatim to x264's option string on every transcode. At startup, all .so files are run without si
- 7.8 High severity
Foxit PDF Editor: External Control of File Name or Path
Foxit PDF Editor/Reader failed to validate the directory traversal path in the attachment file name, resulting in malicious attachments being able to be written to directories outside the expected secure area when the PDF is opened.
- 8.4 High severity
netdata: External Control of File Name or Path
Netdata is an open source observability tool. Prior to 2.10.4, the setuid-root ndsudo helper command fail2ban-client-status-socket in src/collectors/utils/ndsudo.c accepts a caller-controlled --socket_path from the low-privileged netdata service account. The a
- 9.3 Critical severity
vector: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Vector is a high-performance observability data pipeline. From 0.10.0 until 0.57.0, the file sink renders its templated path from event fields and opens the result without confining it to an intended directory. When an untrusted source supplies an event field
- 8.8 High severity
Infrastructure Controller: External Control of File Name or Path
NVIDIA Infrastructure Controller for Linux contains a vulnerability where an attacker could cause external control of a file name or path. A successful exploit of this vulnerability might lead to code execution, escalation of privileges, data tampering, and de
- 7.1 High severity
notebooklm-mcp: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
NotebookLM MCP is an MCP server and HTTP service for interacting with Google NotebookLM and exporting generated content to local vault directories. Versions 1.6.0 through 2.0.2 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the `POST /batch-to-vault` endpoint, also
- 8.8 High severity
conda: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Conda is a system-level binary package and environment manager that runs on major operating systems and platforms. Prior to 26.5.2, parse_entry_point_def in conda/common/path/python.py accepted an unvalidated entry-point command from a noarch:python package's
- 8.3 High severity
MISP: External Control of File Name or Path
MISP has a file-handling vulnerability that could let certain authenticated users make the server read files or access internal network services. When importing an XML file, MISP did not properly verify that the uploaded content was actually XML. Because of th
- 9.8 Critical severity
REDCap: External Control of File Name or Path
An unauthenticated Remote Code Execution vulnerability was found in the survey passthrough routing and Data Import processing logic, in which a malicious user could potentially exploit it by manipulating HTTP requests to access an unintended controller route f