Weakness · Medium

CWE-44: Path Equivalence: 'file.name' (Internal Dot)

What it is

The product accepts path input in the form of internal dot ('file.ordir') without appropriate validation, which can lead to ambiguous path resolution and allow an attacker to traverse the file system to unintended locations or access arbitrary files.

1 exploited in the wildMITRE CWE 4.19.1

Severity (our rating)
Medium
Likelihood of exploit
Not rated by MITRE
Introduced during
Implementation
Exploited in the wild
1 known exploited CVE

What an attacker can do

  • Read Files or Directories (Confidentiality, Integrity)
  • Modify Files or Directories (Confidentiality, Integrity)

How to prevent it

MITRE lists no specific mitigation for this weakness. Treat it like its parent weaknesses below: validate input, keep the design simple and review the code where it could appear.

CWE-44 on MITRE's CWE site

Exploited in the wild: 1 CVE

Vulnerabilities caused by CWE-44 that attackers have used, from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, newest first.

All known exploited vulnerabilities

H2 Security

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Source: MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration, CWE version 4.19.1. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation.