# CVE-2015-9538: Path traversal in n/a

> An attacker can exploit directory traversal in the NextGEN Gallery plugin to read arbitrary files from the server.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:** No
- **Published:** 26 Nov 2019
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-79vh-xfm8-gxmr

## What is CVE-2015-9538?

CVE-2015-9538 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Nov 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The NextGEN Gallery plugin before 2.1.15 for WordPress allows ../ Directory Traversal in path selection.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-9538?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Imagely Nextgen Gallery.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-9538?

No fix has been published for CVE-2015-9538 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2015-9538 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2015-9538 exists.

Public exploit code:

- WordPress NextGEN Gallery Directory Read Vulnerability (metasploit)

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2013-3684](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-3684/): File upload in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-14314](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-14314/): SQL injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-10889](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-10889/): SQL injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-1784](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1784/): File upload in nextgen-gallery (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-35942](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-35942/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-9538 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-9538 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 26 Nov 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2015-9538 exists.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2015-9538/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9538/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-9538
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-9538
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-9538

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9538/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.