CVE-2022-41956
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedAutolab is a course management service, initially developed by a team of students at Carnegie Mellon University, that enables instructors to offer autograded programming assignments to their students over the Web. A file disclosure vulnerability was discovered in Autolab's remote handin feature, whereby users are able to hand-in assignments using paths outside their submission directory. Users can then view the submission to view the file's contents. The vulnerability has been patched in version 2.10.0. As a workaround, ensure that the field for the remote handin feature is empty (Edit Assessment > Advanced > Remote handin path), and that you are not running Autolab as `root` (or any user that has write access to `/`). Alternatively, disable the remote handin feature if it is unneeded by replacing the body of `local_submit` in `app/controllers/assessment/handin.rb` with `render(plain: "Feature disabled", status: :bad_request) && return`.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe remote handin feature in Autolab allows authenticated users to specify file paths outside the intended submission directory during assignment handin. By traversing paths (e.g., ../../etc/passwd), users can submit arbitrary files from the server and then view their contents through the submission interface, resulting in arbitrary file disclosure.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 2.10.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Autolab versionLocate the Autolab installation directory and find the version file or git tag. Common locations include a version file in the root directory or checking the installed gem/package version.Affected if The installed version is lower than 2.10.0 (e.g., 2.9.x, 2.8.x, etc.)
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Identify if remote handin feature is enabledNavigate to the assessment settings in the Autolab admin interface or inspect the assessment configuration database/ YAML files to locate the remote handin settings.Affected if Remote handin is enabled for any assessment in the system
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Verify remote handin path configurationExamine the assessment settings for the remote_handin_path field. This field is typically found in the assessment configuration panel under submission settings.Affected if The remote_handin_path field contains a value (is not empty or null) - this means the feature is actively configured
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Confirm path traversal is possibleAttempt a test submission using path traversal syntax (e.g., ../../) in the remote handin filename field to see if arbitrary paths can be specified.Affected if The system accepts file paths outside the intended submission directory without validation
A user is affected if they run Autolab version below 2.10.0 AND have the remote handin feature enabled with a configured remote_handin_path in any assessment.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped2.10.0
Update to version 2.10.0 to apply the patch, or as workarounds: clear the remote handin path field in assessment settings, ensure Autolab does not run as root, or disable the feature by modifying the local_submit method in app/controllers/assessment/handin.rb.
2.10.0
- Upgrade Autolab to version 2.10.0 or later to obtain the patch for the path traversal vulnerability
- After upgrading, verify that the remote handin feature is no longer vulnerable by testing that submissions are restricted to the expected submission directory
- Alternatively, if immediate upgrade is not feasible: Edit the affected assessment and ensure the 'Remote handin path' field under Edit Assessment > Advanced is empty
- Alternatively, ensure Autolab is not running as root or any user with write access to /
- Alternatively, disable the remote handin feature entirely by replacing the body of the `local_submit` method in `app/controllers/assessment/handin.rb` with `render(plain: "Feature disabled", status: :bad_request) && return`
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-41956 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-41956 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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