CVE-2008-6505 Apache Struts directory traversal vulnerability

What is CVE-2008-6505?

CVE-2008-6505 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Apache Struts, published on 23 Mar 2009. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Multiple directory traversal vulnerabilities in Apache Struts 2.0.x before 2.0.12 and 2.1.x before 2.1.3 allow remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a ..%252f (encoded dot dot slash) in a URI with a /struts/ path, related to (1) FilterDispatcher in 2.0.x and (2) DefaultStaticContentLoader in 2.1.x.

Weakness: CWE-22

Which versions are affected by CVE-2008-6505?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.apache.struts:struts2-core. It affects 1 product.

Products include Apache Struts.

How do I fix CVE-2008-6505?

Upgrade org.apache.struts:struts2-core to a fixed version for your release line: 2.0.12 or 2.1.3.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2008-6505 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2008-6505 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Exploit-DB entry.

Other vulnerabilities in Apache Struts

• CVE-2020-17530 Apache Struts Remote Code Execution Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2017-9791 Apache Struts 1 Improper Input Validation Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2017-5638 Apache Struts Remote Code Execution Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2012-0391 Apache Struts 2 Improper Input Validation Exploited Critical 9.8
• CVE-2018-11776 Apache Struts Remote Code Execution Exploited High 8.1

All Apache Struts vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-wv7g-xhvw-8hcp.