# CVE-2012-1986: Path traversal in n/a

> Remote authenticated users can read arbitrary files on the Puppet master via a symlink attack in filebucket requests.

- **Severity:** Low 2.1 (`AV:N/AC:H/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 29 May 2012
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-1986, GHSA-2crf-gcjf-2wmp

## What is CVE-2012-1986?

CVE-2012-1986 is a low-severity path traversal vulnerability in Puppet Puppet Enterprise, published on 29 May 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Puppet 2.6.x before 2.6.15 and 2.7.x before 2.7.13, and Puppet Enterprise (PE) Users 1.0, 1.1, 1.2.x, 2.0.x, and 2.5.x before 2.5.1 allows remote authenticated users with an authorized SSL key and certain permissions on the puppet master to read arbitrary files via a symlink attack in conjunction with a crafted REST request for a file in a filebucket.

Weakness: CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-1986?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Puppet Puppet, Puppet Puppet Enterprise, Puppetlabs Puppet, Puppetlabs Puppet Enterprise Users.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-1986?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2012-1986 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Puppet Puppet Enterprise

- [CVE-2016-2785](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-2785/): Puppet Improper Access Control (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-27021](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27021/): SQL injection in Puppet DB (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-6513](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6513/): Privilege escalation in Puppet Enterprise and Puppet Agent (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-6514](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6514/): Privilege escalation in Puppet Agent (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2018-6515](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6515/): Code injection in Puppet Agent (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-1986 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-1986 is a low-severity path traversal vulnerability in Puppet Puppet Enterprise, published on 29 May 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-1986 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Puppet Puppet Enterprise. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1986/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1986/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-1986
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-1986
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-1986

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-1986/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.