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GHSA-v92g-xgxw-vvmm

HighCVSS 7.5 / 10
Published Apr 16, 2026·Last modified May 20, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Summary

TemplateLookup.get_template() is vulnerable to path traversal when a URI starts with // (e.g., //../../../secret.txt). The root cause is an inconsistency between two slash-stripping implementations:

  • Template.__init__ strips one leading / using if/slice
  • TemplateLookup.get_template() strips all leading / using re.sub(r"^\/+", "")

When a URI like //../../../../etc/passwd is passed:

  1. get_template() strips all / → ../../../../etc/passwd → file found via posixpath.join(dir_, u)
  2. Template.__init__ strips one / → /../../../../etc/passwd → normpath → /etc/passwd
  3. /etc/passwd.startswith(..) → False → check bypassed

Impact

Arbitrary file read: any file readable by the process can be returned as rendered template content when an application passes untrusted input directly to TemplateLookup.get_template().

Note: this is exploitable at the library API level. HTTP-based exploitation is mitigated by Python's BaseHTTPRequestHandler which normalizes double-slash prefixes since CPython gh-87389. Applications using other HTTP servers that do not normalize paths may be affected.

Fix

Changed Template.__init__ to use lstrip("/") instead of stripping only a single leading slash, so both code paths handle leading slashes consistently.

Risk Scores
Base Score
7.5

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker does not need any special privileges or access rights. No user interaction is needed for the attacker to exploit this vulnerability. The impact is confined to the system where the vulnerability exists. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information.

Threat Intelligence
6.9

Exploitation attempts have been detected. Elevated vigilance and prompt remediation are advised.

EPSS
0.36%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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