CVE-2021-41152 Path Traversal in Folder Component Leading to Local File Inclusion
An authenticated attacker can exploit path traversal in the folder component to read arbitrary files on the server.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2021-41152?
CVE-2021-41152 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in OpenOLAT, published on 18 Oct 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
OpenOlat is a web-based e-learning platform for teaching, learning, assessment and communication, an LMS, a learning management system. In affected versions by manipulating the HTTP request an attacker can modify the path of a requested file download in the folder component to point to anywhere on the target system. The attack could be used to read any file accessible in the web root folder or outside, depending on the configuration of the system and the properly configured permission of the application server user. The attack requires an OpenOlat user account or the enabled guest user feature together with the usage of the folder component in a course. The attack does not allow writing of arbitrary files, it allows only reading of files and also only ready of files that the attacker knows the exact path which is very unlikely at least for OpenOlat data files. The problem is fixed in version 15.5.8 and 16.0.1 It is advised to upgrade to version 16.0.x. There are no known workarounds to fix this problem, an upgrade is necessary.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-41152?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Frentix Openolat.
How do I fix CVE-2021-41152?
No fix has been published for CVE-2021-41152 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2021-41152 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-41152 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in OpenOLAT
- CVE-2026-31946 OpenOLAT: Authentication bypass via forged JWT in OIDC implicit flow
- CVE-2026-28228 OpenOLAT: Server-Side Template Injection (SSTI) in Velocity templates allows Remote Code Execution
- CVE-2021-39181 Unsafe Deserialization of User Data Using XStream
- CVE-2021-41242 Path Traversal in some REST methods leading to file upload to arbitrary places
- CVE-2021-39180 Path Traversal in Archive Handling Leading to Code Execution
Sources
Also known as GHSA-m8j5-837g-2p3f.