# CVE-2020-11498: Path traversal in n/a

> A relative path vulnerability in Slack Nebula allows attackers to execute arbitrary code with root privileges or user-level persistence.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 2 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024

## What is CVE-2020-11498?

CVE-2020-11498 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 2 Apr 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Slack Nebula through 1.1.0 contains a relative path vulnerability that allows a low-privileged attacker to execute code in the context of the root user via tun_darwin.go or tun_windows.go. A user can also use Nebula to execute arbitrary code in the user's own context, e.g., for user-level persistence or to bypass security controls. NOTE: the vendor states that this "requires a high degree of access and other preconditions that are tough to achieve."

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-11498?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Slack Nebula.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-11498?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-11498 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-11498 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-11498 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2026-25793](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-25793/): Nebula Has Possible Blocklist Bypass via ECDSA Signature Malleability (high 7.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-11498 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-11498 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 2 Apr 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-11498 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2020-11498/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11498/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-11498
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-11498
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-11498

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11498/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.