zip Incorrectly Canonicalizes Paths during Archive Extraction Leading to Arbitrary File Write

Description

Summary

In the archive extraction routine of affected versions of the zip crate, symbolic links earlier in the archive are allowed to be used for later files in the archive without validation of the final canonicalized path, allowing maliciously crafted archives to overwrite arbitrary files in the file system when extracted.

Details

This is a variant of the zip-slip vulnerability, we can make the extraction logic step outside of the target directory by creating a symlink to the parent directory and then extracting further files through that symlink.

The documentation of the [::zip::read::ZipArchive::extract] method is in my opinion implying this should not happen:

> "Paths are sanitized with ZipFile::enclosed_name." ...
> [::zip::read::FileOptions::enclosed_name] ... is resistant to path-based exploits ... can’t resolve to a path outside the current directory.

Most archive software either decline to extract symlinks that traverse out of the directory or defer creation of symlinks after all files have been created to prevent unexpected behavior when later entries depend on earlier symbolic link entries.

PoC

https://gist.github.com/eternal-flame-AD/bf71ef4f6828e741eb12ce7fd47b7b85

Impact

Users who extract untrusted archive files using the following high-level API method may be affected and critical files on the system may be overwritten with arbitrary file permissions, which can potentially lead to code execution.

  • zip::unstable::stream::ZipStreamReader::extract
  • zip::read::ZipArchive::extract

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2025-03-17 21:26:32 UTC
Updated
2025-03-19 15:51:05 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2025-03-17 21:26:32 UTC
NVD published
2025-03-17

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.27% 50.52%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
7.3 4.0
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Exploitation depends on constrained or hard-to-reproduce conditions.
Attack requirements (AT:N)
No additional preconditions are required beyond normal reachability.
Privileges required (PR:L)
Low privileges are required.
User interaction (UI:N)
No user interaction is required.
Vulnerable system confidentiality impact (VC:L)
Limited confidentiality impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system integrity impact (VI:H)
High integrity impact on the vulnerable system.
Vulnerable system availability impact (VA:N)
No availability impact on the vulnerable system.
Subsequent system confidentiality impact (SC:H)
High confidentiality impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system integrity impact (SI:H)
High integrity impact on subsequent systems.
Subsequent system availability impact (SA:H)
High availability impact on subsequent systems.

Identifiers

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CWE-61 UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following
CWE-180 Incorrect Behavior Order: Validate Before Canonicalize

Credits

  • eternal-flame-AD (remediation_developer)
  • Pr0methean (remediation_developer)

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
rust zip >= 1.3.0, < 2.3.0 2.3.0

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence