Skip to main content

CVE-2025-5273: Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties in mcp-markdownify-server

High
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-5273cvecve-2025-5273
Published: Thu May 29 2025 (05/29/2025, 05:00:01 UTC)
Source: CVE Database V5
Vendor/Project: n/a
Product: mcp-markdownify-server

Description

All versions of the package mcp-markdownify-server are vulnerable to Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties via the get-markdown-file tool. An attacker can craft a prompt that, once accessed by the MCP host, will allow it to read arbitrary files from the host running the server.

AI-Powered Analysis

AILast updated: 07/07/2025, 04:56:05 UTC

Technical Analysis

CVE-2025-5273 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting all versions of the mcp-markdownify-server package. The vulnerability arises from the get-markdown-file tool within the server, which improperly restricts access to files or directories. An attacker can craft a malicious prompt that, when processed by the MCP host running the server, enables arbitrary file reading on the host system. This vulnerability is categorized under CWE-552, which relates to files or directories accessible to external parties, indicating a failure to properly enforce access controls. The CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.2 reflects the critical nature of this flaw, with an attack vector of network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), but requiring user interaction (UI:A). The vulnerability has a high impact on confidentiality (VC:H) but does not affect integrity or availability. The scope is unchanged, and no authentication is required, making exploitation feasible remotely if a user interacts with the malicious prompt. No known exploits are currently in the wild, and no patches have been published yet. This vulnerability could allow attackers to read sensitive configuration files, credentials, or other critical data residing on the server, potentially leading to further compromise or data leakage.

Potential Impact

For European organizations using the mcp-markdownify-server package, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to data confidentiality. Unauthorized access to arbitrary files could expose sensitive business information, personal data protected under GDPR, or intellectual property. The breach of confidentiality could lead to regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and financial losses. Since the vulnerability requires user interaction, phishing or social engineering campaigns could be used as attack vectors. Organizations relying on this package in web services, internal tools, or content management systems may face increased risk of targeted attacks. The lack of patches means organizations must implement immediate mitigations to prevent exploitation. Given the high confidentiality impact, attackers could leverage this vulnerability as a foothold for lateral movement or privilege escalation within corporate networks.

Mitigation Recommendations

1. Immediately audit all deployments of mcp-markdownify-server to identify affected instances. 2. Restrict network access to the server hosting mcp-markdownify-server, limiting exposure to trusted internal networks only. 3. Implement strict input validation and sanitization on any user-supplied prompts or inputs processed by the get-markdown-file tool to prevent malicious payloads. 4. Employ application-layer firewalls or web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the vulnerable functionality. 5. Educate users and administrators about the risk of interacting with untrusted prompts or inputs related to this service to reduce the likelihood of user interaction exploitation. 6. Monitor logs for unusual file access patterns or unexpected prompt executions. 7. Prepare for patch deployment by following vendor advisories closely and testing updates in controlled environments once available. 8. Consider isolating the mcp-markdownify-server in a sandboxed environment with minimal privileges to limit potential damage from exploitation.

Need more detailed analysis?Get Pro

Technical Details

Data Version
5.1
Assigner Short Name
snyk
Date Reserved
2025-05-27T13:22:21.098Z
Cvss Version
4.0
State
PUBLISHED

Threat ID: 6837ecfc182aa0cae26d541c

Added to database: 5/29/2025, 5:13:32 AM

Last enriched: 7/7/2025, 4:56:05 AM

Last updated: 8/17/2025, 10:15:13 AM

Views: 13

Actions

PRO

Updates to AI analysis are available only with a Pro account. Contact root@offseq.com for access.

Please log in to the Console to use AI analysis features.

Need enhanced features?

Contact root@offseq.com for Pro access with improved analysis and higher rate limits.

Latest Threats