# CVE-2025-11233: Rust standard library didn't detect all path separators on Cygwin

> Rust standard library on Cygwin ignored backslashes, enabling path traversal in applications compiled for this specific target.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:L/SI:L/SA:L/AU:Y/RE:L/U:Green`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 Oct 2025
- **Updated:** 1 Oct 2025
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2025-11233, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-11233

## What is CVE-2025-11233?

CVE-2025-11233 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Rust Project std, published on 1 Oct 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Starting from Rust 1.87.0 and before Rust 1.89.0, the tier 3 Cygwin target (`x86_64-pc-cygwin`) didn't correctly handle path separators, causing the standard library's Path API to ignore path components separated by backslashes. Due to this, programs compiled for Cygwin that validate paths could misbehave, potentially allowing path traversal attacks or malicious filesystem operations.

Rust 1.89.0 fixes the issue by handling both Win32 and Unix style paths in the standard library for the Cygwin target.

While we assess the severity of this vulnerability as "medium", please note that the tier 3 Cygwin compilation target is only available when building it from source: no pre-built binaries are distributed by the Rust project, and it cannot be installed through Rustup. Unless you manually compiled the `x86_64-pc-cygwin` target you are not affected by this vulnerability. Users of the tier 1 MinGW target (`x86_64-pc-windows-gnu`) are also explicitly not affected.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-11233?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-11233?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2025-11233 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-11233 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-11233 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-11233 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Rust Project std, published on 1 Oct 2025. 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-2025-11233 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Rust Project std. 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-2025-11233/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-11233/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-11233
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-11233
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-11233

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-11233/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.