CVE-2007-6672 in Jetty
Summary
by MITRE
Mortbay Jetty 6.1.5 and 6.1.6 allows remote attackers to bypass protection mechanisms and read the source of files via multiple / (slash) characters in the URI.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/24/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2007-6672 affects Mortbay Jetty versions 6.1.5 and 6.1.6, representing a significant security flaw in web server implementation that enables unauthorized file access through improper URI handling. This issue stems from the web server's inadequate validation of URI paths containing multiple consecutive forward slash characters, creating a path traversal condition that bypasses intended security controls. The flaw specifically manifests when attackers craft malicious URIs with excessive slash characters to manipulate the web server's file resolution mechanism, allowing access to files that should otherwise be protected or restricted.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the URI parsing and path resolution logic within the Jetty web server component. When the server processes URIs containing multiple consecutive slashes, it fails to properly normalize the path structure, leading to a condition where the path traversal bypass occurs. This behavior violates fundamental security principles of input validation and path sanitization, creating an attack surface that allows remote adversaries to access sensitive files outside the intended web root directory. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-22 as Path Traversal, which represents a well-known weakness in software systems that fail to properly validate or sanitize file paths.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to organizations relying on affected Jetty versions, as it enables attackers to read arbitrary files on the server filesystem. The implications extend beyond simple information disclosure, potentially allowing attackers to access configuration files, source code, database credentials, and other sensitive data that could lead to further compromise of the affected system. The remote nature of the attack means that no local system access is required, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited from any network location. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to conduct reconnaissance, escalate privileges, or extract confidential information that could be used for additional attacks.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of Mortbay Jetty, applying the vendor-supplied security patches, and implementing proper URI validation at the application level. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can help detect and block malicious URI patterns, while server configuration changes should enforce strict path normalization and validation. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments of their web applications to identify other potential path traversal vulnerabilities, as this flaw demonstrates the importance of proper input sanitization and access control enforcement. The vulnerability highlights the critical need for robust security testing and the implementation of defense-in-depth strategies to protect against similar path traversal attacks that could affect other web server implementations. This issue aligns with ATT&CK technique T1083, which covers the discovery of file and directory permissions, and represents a classic example of how improper input validation can lead to privilege escalation and unauthorized access in web server environments.