CVE-2018-19859 in OpenRefine
Summary
by MITRE
OpenRefine before 3.5 allows directory traversal via a relative pathname in a ZIP archive.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/13/2023
The vulnerability CVE-2018-19859 represents a directory traversal flaw in OpenRefine versions prior to 3.5, which enables attackers to manipulate file paths within ZIP archives to access or modify files outside the intended directory structure. This vulnerability specifically affects the application's handling of relative pathnames during ZIP archive extraction processes, creating a potential security risk that could allow unauthorized access to sensitive system resources.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of file paths within ZIP archives. When OpenRefine processes compressed data containing relative pathnames such as ../etc/passwd or ../../../windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts, the application fails to properly sanitize or restrict these paths, allowing them to resolve outside the designated extraction directory. This weakness directly maps to CWE-22, which describes improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory, commonly known as directory traversal or path traversal attacks. The flaw occurs during the decompression phase where the application does not adequately verify that extracted file paths remain within the intended boundaries.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple file access, potentially enabling attackers to overwrite critical system files, read sensitive configuration data, or even execute arbitrary code if the application has elevated privileges during extraction. An attacker could exploit this weakness by crafting a malicious ZIP archive containing carefully constructed relative paths that, when processed by the vulnerable OpenRefine version, would result in unauthorized file operations. This threat is particularly concerning in environments where OpenRefine processes untrusted data from external sources, as it could facilitate privilege escalation or data exfiltration attacks.
Organizations should immediately update their OpenRefine installations to version 3.5 or later, which includes proper path validation and sanitization mechanisms to prevent directory traversal during ZIP archive processing. Additional mitigations include implementing strict input validation for all archive processing operations, deploying network segmentation to limit access to affected systems, and monitoring for suspicious file extraction activities. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for execution through archive extraction, and organizations should consider implementing application whitelisting policies to prevent unauthorized execution of potentially malicious archive contents. Security teams should also conduct regular vulnerability assessments to identify other applications with similar path traversal vulnerabilities, as this represents a common weakness in file processing systems that requires consistent remediation across all software components handling user-supplied archive data.