# CVE-2024-43797: Path Traversal in audiobookshelf

> Non-admin users can exploit missing authorization checks to perform path traversal and write files to arbitrary system directories.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **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 Sep 2024
- **Updated:** 3 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-gg56-vj58-g5mc

## What is CVE-2024-43797?

CVE-2024-43797 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in advplyr audiobookshelf, published on 2 Sep 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

audiobookshelf is a self-hosted audiobook and podcast server. A non-admin user is not allowed to create libraries (or access only the ones they have permission to). However, the `LibraryController` is missing the check for admin user and thus allows a path traversal issue. Allowing non-admin users to write to any directory in the system can be seen as a form of path traversal. However, since it can be restricted to only admin permissions, fixing this is relatively simple and falls more into the realm of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). This issue has been addressed in release version 2.13.0. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-43797?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Audiobookshelf Audiobookshelf.

## How do I fix CVE-2024-43797?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-43797 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2024-43797 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-43797 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in advplyr audiobookshelf

- [CVE-2025-57800](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-57800/): Audiobookshelf vulnerable to OIDC token exfiltration and account takeover (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-25205](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-25205/): Remote Authentication-Bypass can lead to server crash or limited information disclosure due to faulty pattern matching (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2023-47619](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47619/): Audiobookshelf Server-Side Request Forgery and Arbitrary File Read Vulnerability (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-47624](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47624/): Audiobookshelf Arbitrary File Read Vulnerability (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2025-46338](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-46338/): Audiobookshelf Vulnerable to Cross-Site-Scripting Reflected via POST Request in /api/upload (medium 6.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-43797 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-43797 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in advplyr audiobookshelf, published on 2 Sep 2024. 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-2024-43797 exists.

Affected product: advplyr audiobookshelf. 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-2024-43797/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43797/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-43797
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-43797
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-43797

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43797/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.