Apache Commons VFS <2.10.0 RPT via encoded '..'
CVE-2025-27553 Published on March 23, 2025
Apache Commons VFS: Possible path traversal issue when using NameScope.DESCENDENT
Relative Path Traversal vulnerability in Apache Commons VFS before 2.10.0.
The FileObject API in Commons VFS has a 'resolveFile' method that
takes a 'scope' parameter. Specifying 'NameScope.DESCENDENT' promises that "an exception is thrown if the resolved file is not a descendent of
the base file". However, when the path contains encoded ".."
characters (for example, "%2E%2E/bar.txt"), it might return file objects that are not
a descendent of the base file, without throwing an exception.
This issue affects Apache Commons VFS: before 2.10.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.10.0, which fixes the issue.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-27553 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a high impact on confidentiality, with no impact on integrity and availability.
Weakness Type
Relative Path Traversal
The software uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize sequences such as ".." that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory. This allows attackers to traverse the file system to access files or directories that are outside of the restricted directory.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-27553
stack.watch emails you whenever new vulnerabilities are published in Apache Commons Vfs or Oracle. Just hit a watch button to start following.
Affected Versions
Apache Software Foundation Apache Commons VFS:- Before 2.10.0 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.