CVE-2002-1684 in D2Gfx
Summary
by MITRE
Directory traversal vulnerability in (1) Deerfield D2Gfx 1.0.2 or (2) BadBlue Enterprise Edition 1.5.x and BadBlue Personal Edition 1.5.6 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a ../ (dot dot slash) in the script used to read Microsoft Office documents.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/18/2019
This directory traversal vulnerability exists in Deerfield D2Gfx 1.0.2 and BadBlue Enterprise Edition 1.5.x and Personal Edition 1.5.6 software components that process Microsoft Office documents through script execution. The flaw stems from inadequate input validation when handling file paths containing ../ sequences, which allows attackers to navigate outside the intended directory structure and access arbitrary files on the server filesystem. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the software processes documents through scripts that do not properly sanitize user-supplied path parameters, creating a path traversal condition that can be exploited remotely without authentication.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability leverages the standard Unix-style directory navigation syntax where ../ represents a parent directory reference. When the vulnerable applications receive requests containing these sequences in document processing scripts, they fail to validate or sanitize the path components, allowing the traversal to occur. This creates a direct path traversal condition that maps to CWE-22 - Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory, a well-documented weakness in software security that enables attackers to access files outside the intended scope. The vulnerability operates at the application layer and can be exploited through HTTP requests that include the malicious path sequences in parameters used for document processing.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it provides remote attackers with the ability to read arbitrary files from the server's filesystem, potentially including sensitive configuration files, database credentials, application source code, and other confidential data. Attackers can leverage this to gain unauthorized access to system resources, escalate privileges, or extract sensitive information that could lead to further compromise of the affected systems. The vulnerability affects both enterprise and personal editions of the BadBlue software, making it a widespread concern for organizations using these applications for document management and web serving. This type of attack aligns with ATT&CK technique T1083 - File and Directory Discovery, where adversaries enumerate file systems to identify valuable targets for data exfiltration.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate patching of affected software versions, implementing input validation and sanitization for all file path parameters, and restricting file access permissions to minimize the impact of potential exploitation. Organizations should also deploy web application firewalls to detect and block malicious path traversal attempts, implement proper access controls, and conduct regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities in other applications. Additionally, system administrators should monitor for unusual file access patterns and implement principle of least privilege access controls to limit the damage that could result from successful exploitation of this vulnerability. The remediation approach should follow security best practices outlined in OWASP Top Ten and NIST guidelines for preventing path traversal attacks in web applications.