Sharp is Vulnerable to Path Traversal via Unsanitized Extension in FileUtil

Description

Summary

A path traversal vulnerability exists in the FileUtil class of the code16/sharp package. The application fails to sanitize file extensions properly, allowing path separators to be passed into the storage layer.

Detail

In src/Utils/FileUtil.php, the FileUtil::explodeExtension() function extracts a file's extension by splitting the filename at the last dot. However, the extracted extension is never sanitized. While the application uses a normalizeName() function, this function only cleans the base filename, meaning any path separators (such as /) injected into the extension will survive and be passed into the storeAs() function.

Impact

Exploiting this flaw allows an authenticated attacker to manipulate file paths:
- Files can be written outside of the intended tmp directory via path traversal. For more details on the package, visit: https://github.com/code16/sharp
- Existing critical files (such as .env or configuration files) could potentially be overwritten. Review the CWE definition here: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/22.html (Note: This vulnerability was successfully chained with CWE-434 in a local Proof of Concept to confirm the traversal.)

Patches

This issue has been patched by properly sanitizing the extension using pathinfo(PATHINFO_EXTENSION) instead of strrpos(), alongside applying strict regex replacements to both the base name and the extension. The fix is available in pull request #715

Credits

Reported by zaurgsynv.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
high
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Open repository advisory ↗
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2026-03-25 20:01:04 UTC
Updated
2026-03-27 21:36:05 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2026-03-25 20:01:04 UTC
NVD published
2026-03-26

EPSS Score

Score Percentile
0.07% 21.89%

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
8.8 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

Identifiers

CWEs

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

Affected packages (1)

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

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
composer code16/sharp < 9.20.0 9.20.0

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence