CWE-22 9441 CVEs MITRE definition ↗

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Overview

CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')) documents a weakness type used across vulnerability databases and security assessments. Use the sections below for definition, context, and mapped CVEs.

Security impact
Security impact: Depends on product and context; use CVE records, severity scores, and MITRE guidance to prioritize.

Description

The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

Applicable platforms

Kind Name Class Prevalence OS / CPE
language Not Language-Specific Undetermined
technology AI/ML Often

Related CVEs in this database

These CVEs are mapped to this weakness in this database and kept for traceability and search.

CVE Published Summary
CVE-2026-16219 2026-07-19 A flaw has been found in Croogo CMS up to 4.0.7. This affects the function FileManager::isEditable of the file FileManager/src/Utility/FileManager.php of the component Admin File Manager. This manipul…
CVE-2025-71394 2026-07-18 SurrealDB versions before 2.2.2 contain a local file read vulnerability in the DEFINE ANALYZER statement that allows authenticated users to read arbitrary files on the file system. Attackers with root…
CVE-2026-15631 2026-07-18 Impact: @fastify/http-proxy versions from 9.4.0 up to and including 11.5.0 fail to validate the resolved WebSocket destination path against the configured rewrite prefix. The WebSocket routing path in…
CVE-2026-16088 2026-07-18 A vulnerability was detected in halo-dev halo up to 2.24.2. Affected by this vulnerability is the function Download of the file MigrationEndpoint.java of the component Files Backup Endpoint. Performin…
CVE-2026-47871 2026-07-18 VMware Avi Load Balancer contains a directory traversal vulnerability. Flaws in file path validation allow malicious, authenticated network users to perform directory traversal attacks. Affected vers…
CVE-2026-48049 2026-07-17 @hapi/inert provides static file and directory handlers for hapi.js. From 4.0.0 to 7.1.0, @hapi/inert serves static files from a directory configured with path in the directory or file handlers or rel…
CVE-2026-8859 2026-07-17 IBM Langflow OSS 1.0.0 through 1.10.0 Langflow could allow an attacker to write arbitrary files to unintended locations due to improper input validation in the APIRequest component. A path traversal v…
CVE-2026-7872 2026-07-17 IBM Langflow OSS 1.0.0 through 1.10.0 allows an authenticated attacker to read arbitrary files including the JWT signing key and forge authentication tokens for any user.
CVE-2026-7667 2026-07-17 IBM Langflow OSS 1.0.0 through 1.10.0 allows an authenticated attacker to create a malicious flow pointing to an attacker-controlled URL that returns a specially crafted Content-Disposition header (e.…
CVE-2026-50163 2026-07-17 oras-go is a Go library for managing OCI artifacts. Prior to 2.6.2, ensureLinkPath in content/file/utils.go:262-275 validates a hardlink target relative to the extract base but returns the unresolved …
CVE-2026-45309 2026-07-17 AsyncSSH is a Python package which provides an asynchronous client and server implementation of the SSHv2 protocol on top of the Python asyncio framework. Prior to 2.23.0, AsyncSSH expands the OpenSSH…
CVE-2026-15343 2026-07-17 A path traversal vulnerability was identified in GitHub Enterprise Server that allowed an attacker who had code execution inside the Dependabot updater container to write files to arbitrary repository…
CVE-2026-15457 2026-07-17 The Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 6.0.13 via the 'family' parameter. This …
CVE-2026-15160 2026-07-17 The Ninja Forms - Excel Export plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in all versions up to, and including, 3.3.6 via the 'spreadsheet_export_tmp_name' parameter. This makes it poss…
CVE-2026-62229 2026-07-16 OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability in exec allowlist glob matching that allows lower-trust callers to execute actions beyond intended authorization. Attackers can …
CVE-2026-39359 2026-07-16 Wazuh is a free and open source platform used for threat prevention, detection, and response. In versions 4.0.0 through 4.10.3 and 4.11.0 through 4.14.4, a logic flaw affects the Wazuh Manager's enrol…
CVE-2026-44177 2026-07-16 Kirby is an open-source content management system. In versions 5.3.0 and above but prior to 5.4.1, Kirby did not correctly validate the provided user ID, resulting in a path traversal vulnerability. V…
CVE-2026-44023 2026-07-16 Docling Core defines core data types and transformations for the document processing application Docling. In versions 1.5.0 and above, prior to 2.74.1, docling-core did not sufficiently restrict remot…
CVE-2024-32386 2026-07-16 Directory traversal vulnerability in Kerlink Kerlink Wirnet iStation 868 KerOS v.4.3.3_20200803132042 allows a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via the SNMP update mechanism.
CVE-2026-55629 2026-07-16 Whistle is an HTTP, HTTP2, HTTPS, and WebSocket debugging proxy. Prior to 2.10.3, lib/service/service.js handles GET /cgi-bin/temp/get by reading req.query.filename, joining it to TEMP_FILES_PATH only…

Previous names

  • Path Traversal (2010-02-16)

Content submission

Name
PLOVER
Date
2006-07-19
Version
Draft 3

Content modifications

Date Name Version Importance Comment
2008-07-01 Eric Dalci 1.0 updated Potential_Mitigations, Time_of_Introduction
2008-08-15 1.0 Suggested OWASP Top Ten 2004 mapping
2008-09-08 CWE Content Team 1.0 updated Alternate_Terms, Relationships, Other_Notes, Relationship_Notes, Relevant_Properties, Taxonomy_Mappings, Weakness_Ordinalities
2008-10-14 CWE Content Team 1.0.1 updated Description
2008-11-24 CWE Content Team 1.1 updated Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2009-07-27 CWE Content Team 1.5 updated Potential_Mitigations
2010-02-16 CWE Content Team 1.8 updated Alternate_Terms, Applicable_Platforms, Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Detection_Factors, Likelihood_of_Exploit, Name, Observed_Examples, Other_Notes, Potential_Mitigations, References, Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationship_Notes, Relationships, Research_Gaps, Taxonomy_Mappings, Terminology_Notes, Time_of_Introduction, Weakness_Ordinalities
2010-06-21 CWE Content Team 1.9 updated Common_Consequences, Demonstrative_Examples, Description, Detection_Factors, Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationships
2010-09-27 CWE Content Team 1.10 updated Potential_Mitigations
2010-12-13 CWE Content Team 1.11 updated Potential_Mitigations
2011-03-29 CWE Content Team 1.12 updated Potential_Mitigations
2011-06-27 CWE Content Team 2.0 updated Relationships
2011-09-13 CWE Content Team 2.1 updated Potential_Mitigations, References, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2012-05-11 CWE Content Team 2.2 updated Demonstrative_Examples, References, Relationships
2012-10-30 CWE Content Team 2.3 updated Potential_Mitigations
2013-02-21 CWE Content Team 2.4 updated Observed_Examples
2013-07-17 CWE Content Team 2.5 updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships
2014-06-23 CWE Content Team 2.7 updated Other_Notes, Research_Gaps
2014-07-30 CWE Content Team 2.8 updated Detection_Factors, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2015-12-07 CWE Content Team 2.9 updated Relationships
2017-01-19 CWE Content Team 2.10 updated Related_Attack_Patterns
2017-05-03 CWE Content Team 2.11 updated Demonstrative_Examples
2017-11-08 CWE Content Team 3.0 updated Affected_Resources, Causal_Nature, Likelihood_of_Exploit, References, Relationships, Relevant_Properties, Taxonomy_Mappings
2018-03-27 CWE Content Team 3.1 updated References, Relationships
2019-01-03 CWE Content Team 3.2 updated References, Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships, Taxonomy_Mappings
2019-06-20 CWE Content Team 3.3 updated Related_Attack_Patterns, Relationships, Type
2019-09-19 CWE Content Team 3.4 updated Relationships
2020-02-24 CWE Content Team 4.0 updated Potential_Mitigations, Relationships
2020-06-25 CWE Content Team 4.1 updated Demonstrative_Examples, Potential_Mitigations
2020-08-20 CWE Content Team 4.2 updated Relationships
2020-12-10 CWE Content Team 4.3 updated Potential_Mitigations, Relationships
2021-03-15 CWE Content Team 4.4 updated Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships
2021-07-20 CWE Content Team 4.5 updated Relationships
2021-10-28 CWE Content Team 4.6 updated Observed_Examples, Relationships
2022-06-28 CWE Content Team 4.8 updated Observed_Examples, Relationships
2022-10-13 CWE Content Team 4.9 updated Observed_Examples, References
2023-01-31 CWE Content Team 4.10 updated Common_Consequences, Description, Detection_Factors
2023-04-27 CWE Content Team 4.11 updated Demonstrative_Examples, References, Relationships, Time_of_Introduction
2023-06-29 CWE Content Team 4.12 updated Mapping_Notes, Relationships
2023-10-26 CWE Content Team 4.13 updated Observed_Examples
2024-07-16 CWE Content Team 4.15 updated Common_Consequences, Description, Diagram, Observed_Examples, Other_Notes, References
2024-11-19 CWE Content Team 4.16 updated Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships
2025-04-03 CWE Content Team 4.17 updated Relationships
2025-09-09 CWE Content Team 4.18 updated Applicable_Platforms, Detection_Factors, Observed_Examples, Potential_Mitigations, References
2025-12-11 CWE Content Team 4.19 updated Mapping_Notes, Relationships
2026-04-30 CWE Content Team 4.20 updated Alternate_Terms, Applicable_Platforms, Demonstrative_Examples, Relationships

Contributions

Type Name Date Comment
Feedback Nick Johnston 2022-07-11 Identified weakness in Perl demonstrative example
Content Abhi Balakrishnan 2024-02-29 Provided diagram to improve CWE usability
Feedback Drew Buttner 2024-11-01 Identified weakness in "good code" for Python demonstrative example
Content Affan Ahmed 2025-02-08 Provided a demonstrative example in PHP
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