VulnerabilityPublished 6 May 2024Updated 2 Aug 2024

CVE-2024-34470: HSC Mailinspector · Path Traversal: '\..\filename

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · public detection template (Nuclei) · CVSS 8.6 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.6High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 6.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 93% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 May 2024
Detectable: evidence found.
nuclei template: HSC Mailinspector 5.2.17-3 through 5.2.18 - Local File Inclusion
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

Immediately restrict access to the /public/loader.php endpoint via web server configuration or firewall rules to trusted IP addresses only, if feasible.
Implement strict input validation and sanitization on the 'path' parameter to ensure it cannot reference files outside the intended webroot directory, using canonicalization and whitelist approaches.
Monitor web server logs for suspicious requests attempting path traversal patterns (e.g., ../ sequences) targeting loader.php.
Deploy web application firewalls (WAFs) with rules specifically designed to detect and block path traversal attempts against this endpoint.
Contact the vendor for official patches or updates and apply them promptly once available.
Conduct a comprehensive audit of server files and credentials to identify any potential data exposure resulting from exploitation.
Consider isolating or segmenting the affected application environment to limit the impact of any potential breach.
Educate security teams to recognize exploitation indicators and prepare incident response plans tailored to this vulnerability.

Description

An issue was discovered in HSC Mailinspector 5.2.17-3 through v.5.2.18. An Unauthenticated Path Traversal vulnerability exists in the /public/loader.php file. The path parameter does not properly filter whether the file and directory passed are part of the webroot, allowing an attacker to read arbitrary files on the server.

Impact

The primary impact of this vulnerability is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information stored on affected servers. Attackers can read arbitrary files, potentially exposing credentials, private keys, configuration files, or other sensitive data that could facilitate further attacks such as privilege escalation, lateral movement, or data exfiltration. For organizations, this can lead to severe confidentiality breaches, regulatory compliance violations, reputational damage, and operational disruptions if critical information is leaked. Since exploitation requires no authentication and no user interaction, the attack surface is broad, increasing the risk of automated scanning and exploitation attempts. The scope of affected systems is limited to organizations using the vulnerable versions of HSC Mailinspector, which is an email security solution, often deployed in enterprises and service providers. The vulnerability could be leveraged as an initial access vector or to gather intelligence for more complex attacks. The lack of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not diminish the urgency for remediation.

CWE-29Path Traversal: '\..\filename' (opens in a new tab)
Variant weakness
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize '\..\filename' (leading backslash dot dot) sequences that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/osvaldotenorio/CVE-2024-34470 (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Mar 2026, 23:18 UTC

Public exploits and detectiona Nuclei detection template

WeaknessesCWE-29

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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