GHSA-hvp5-5x4f-33fq JADX file override vulnerability
A malicious APK can overwrite files in the output directory during decompilation due to improper handling of style resource filenames.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is GHSA-hvp5-5x4f-33fq?
GHSA-hvp5-5x4f-33fq is a path traversal vulnerability in io.github.skylot:jadx-core, published on 22 Apr 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
Summary
when jadx parses a resource file, there is an escape problem with the style file, which can overwrite other files in the directory when saving the decompile result.
Although I don't think this vulnerability realizes path traversal in the true sense of the word , I reported it anyway
Details
I see that getResAlias does something with the filename.
private String getResAlias(int resRef, String origKeyName, @Nullable FieldNode constField) {
but type style will return the original filename directly.
so our goal is to take a malicious file that was originally of type raw, modify its type to style, trick jadx into
step1
create an android project using androidstudio and create a raw folder with the name attack_file_sayhiiiiiiiiiiiii, it doesn't matter what the content is!
generate an initial APK
step2
extract this initial APK using ZIP software to get resources.arsc
drop resources.arsc into 010editor
step3
search for the previous filename attack_file_sayhiiiiiiiiiiiii , two will appear here, we choose the second one
let's change the name of the file here. I'll change it to ../../_file_sayhiiiiiiiiiiiii
note that you can only overwrite files in the folder where the decompile was saved.

step4
change the type of this file to style
modified to 0E

step5
After saving, re-compress the whole folder into a zip, then change the extension to APK.
open it with JADX and you can see that it has been changed to a style type.
click save all
you can see the file escaping.
so we can also construct a
so the classes.dex file is also replaced here

PoC
the details above have been written
Impact
latest version
Which versions are affected by GHSA-hvp5-5x4f-33fq?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including io.github.skylot:jadx-core.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
io.github.skylot:jadx-core Maven | All versions | 1.5.0 |
io.github.skylot:jadx-core Maven | All versions | 1.5.0 |
How do I fix GHSA-hvp5-5x4f-33fq?
Upgrade io.github.skylot:jadx-core to 1.5.0 or later.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is GHSA-hvp5-5x4f-33fq being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of GHSA-hvp5-5x4f-33fq in the wild and no public exploit code.