# CVE-2020-5720: Path traversal in MikroTik WinBox

> A path traversal flaw in MikroTik WinBox allows attackers to create arbitrary files via malicious endpoints or MITM attacks.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Feb 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-v9mj-82v8-f72w

## What is CVE-2020-5720?

CVE-2020-5720 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in MikroTik WinBox, published on 6 Feb 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

MikroTik WinBox before 3.21 is vulnerable to a path traversal vulnerability that allows creation of arbitrary files wherevere WinBox has write permissions. WinBox is vulnerable to this attack if it connects to a malicious endpoint or if an attacker mounts a man in the middle attack.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-5720?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mikrotik Winbox.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-5720?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-5720 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-5720 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-5720 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in MikroTik WinBox

- [CVE-2020-5721](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5721/): Hardcoded credentials in MikroTik WinBox (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-5720 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-5720 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in MikroTik WinBox, published on 6 Feb 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-5720 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: MikroTik WinBox. 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-2020-5720/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5720/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-5720
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5720
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-5720

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5720/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.