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Path TraversalWeakness · CWE-22

CVE-2025-53120

CRITICAL · 9.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
A path traversal vulnerability in unauthenticated upload functionality allows a malicious actor to upload binaries and scripts to the server’s configuration and web root directories, achieving remote code execution on the Unified PAM server.

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 confidence

A path traversal vulnerability exists in the unauthenticated file upload functionality of Unified PAM server. Attackers can manipulate file upload paths using traversal sequences (e.g., ../../) to write arbitrary binaries and scripts directly into configuration and web root directories, achieving remote code execution.

MitigationImplement strict input validation with path normalization to reject traversal sequences, enforce authentication on all upload endpoints, restrict upload destinations to non-executable directories, and apply allowlist-based file type restrictions.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS 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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if file upload functionality is exposed
    Review server configuration files (e.g., upload.conf, web.xml, or application.yml) for upload endpoint definitions. Use network scanning to detect open upload URIs (commonly /upload, /api/upload, /file/upload).
    Affected if File upload endpoint is accessible without authentication and accepts file content via POST or multipart form data.
  2. Determine installed version of Unified PAM server
    Run command 'unified-pam --version' or check server properties file (e.g., version.properties in /opt/unified-pam/config). Compare against any documented vulnerable version range provided by vendor advisories.
    Affected if Installed version falls within the vulnerable version range if specified by the vendor.
  3. Verify authentication requirement on upload endpoint
    Inspect authentication configuration (e.g., auth.conf, security.xml) or attempt unauthenticated curl request to upload endpoint: curl -X POST -F '[email protected]' http://TARGET/upload
    Affected if Upload endpoint accepts requests without valid authentication tokens or session cookies.
  4. Inspect upload directory configuration
    Review upload storage path setting in configuration files (e.g., upload.path, upload.directory). Default should be a non-web-accessible sandbox directory.
    Affected if Upload directory is set to web root, config directory, or any system directory accessible via directory traversal.
  5. Check for path validation on upload parameters
    Analyze application source code or intercept HTTP requests to examine if filename/path parameters are validated. Test by sending ../../ sequences in filename parameter and checking response.
    Affected if Upload parameters accept directory traversal sequences without sanitization or rejection.

Your environment is affected if Unified PAM server exposes an unauthenticated file upload endpoint that does not validate or sanitize path parameters, allowing directory traversal to write files outside the intended storage directory.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement strict input validation with path normalization to reject traversal sequences, enforce authentication on all upload endpoints, restrict upload destinations to non-executable directories, and apply allowlist-based file type restrictions.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,640
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-53120 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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