# CVE-2022-41956: Autolab is vulnerable to file disclosure via remote handin feature

> Attackers can read arbitrary files via the remote handin feature in Autolab, exposing sensitive data to unauthorized users.

- **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:** 14 Jan 2023
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g7x7-mgrv-f24x

## What is CVE-2022-41956?

CVE-2022-41956 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Autolab, published on 14 Jan 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Autolab is a course management service, initially developed by a team of students at Carnegie Mellon University, that enables instructors to offer autograded programming assignments to their students over the Web. A file disclosure vulnerability was discovered in Autolab's remote handin feature, whereby users are able to hand-in assignments using paths outside their submission directory. Users can then view the submission to view the file's contents. The vulnerability has been patched in version 2.10.0. As a workaround, ensure that the field for the remote handin feature is empty (Edit Assessment > Advanced > Remote handin path), and that you are not running Autolab as `root` (or any user that has write access to `/`). Alternatively, disable the remote handin feature if it is unneeded by replacing the body of `local_submit` in `app/controllers/assessment/handin.rb` with `render(plain: "Feature disabled", status: :bad_request) && return`.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-41956?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Autolabproject Autolab.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-41956?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-41956 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-41956 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-41956 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Autolab

- [CVE-2022-41955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-41955/): Autolab is vulnerable to remote code execution (RCE) via MOSS functionality (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-0936](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0936/): Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in autolab/autolab (high 7.6)
- [CVE-2024-53258](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53258/): download_all_submissions allows student to download another student's submissions in Autolab (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2024-49376](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-49376/): Autolab Has Misconfigured Reset Password Permissions (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2024-53260](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53260/): Course Roster vulnerable to CSV Injection in Autolab (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-41956 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-41956 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Autolab, published on 14 Jan 2023. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-41956 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Autolab. 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-2022-41956/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-41956/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-41956
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-41956
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-41956

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-41956/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.