Headline

GHSA-rrgf-hcr9-jq6h: TinyScientist has Path Traversal Vulnerability in PDF Review Function (CWE-22)

Description

A critical path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) has been identified in the review_paper function in backend/app.py. The vulnerability allows malicious users to access arbitrary PDF files on the server by providing crafted file paths that bypass the intended security restrictions.

Impact

This vulnerability allows attackers to:

Read any PDF file accessible to the server process
Potentially access sensitive documents outside the intended directory
Perform reconnaissance on the server’s file system structure

Vulnerable Code

The issue occurs in the review_paper function around line 744:

if pdf_path.startswith("/api/files/"):
    # Safe path handling for API routes
    relative_path = pdf_path[len("/api/files/"):]
    generated_base = os.path.join(project_root, "generated")
    absolute_pdf_path = os.path.join(generated_base, relative_path)
else:
    absolute_pdf_path = pdf_path  # VULNERABLE: Direct use of user input

Proof of Concept

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/review \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"pdf_path": "/etc/passwd"}'

Credit

This vulnerability was discovered and reported by Ruizhe.

9 hours ago

ghsa

Open in Source

#vulnerability #js #pdf

Description

A critical path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) has been identified in the review_paper function in backend/app.py. The vulnerability allows malicious users to access arbitrary PDF files on the server by providing crafted file paths that bypass the intended security restrictions.

Impact

This vulnerability allows attackers to:

Read any PDF file accessible to the server process
Potentially access sensitive documents outside the intended directory
Perform reconnaissance on the server’s file system structure

Vulnerable Code

The issue occurs in the review_paper function around line 744:

if pdf_path.startswith(“/api/files/”): # Safe path handling for API routes relative_path = pdf_path[len(“/api/files/”):] generated_base = os.path.join(project_root, “generated”) absolute_pdf_path = os.path.join(generated_base, relative_path) else: absolute_pdf_path = pdf_path # VULNERABLE: Direct use of user input

Proof of Concept

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/review \ -H “Content-Type: application/json” \ -d ‘{"pdf_path": "/etc/passwd"}’

Credit

This vulnerability was discovered and reported by Ruizhe.

References