GHSA-9h9m-rr67-9jpg
coursevault-preview has a path traversal due to improper base-directory boundary validation
Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | coursevault-preview | < 0.1.1 | 0.1.1 |
Details
As written in the advisory (Markdown source, shown as plain text).
## Summary
`coursevault-preview` versions prior to `0.1.1` contain a path traversal vulnerability in the `resolveSafe` utility. The boundary check used `String.prototype.startsWith(baseDir)` on a normalized path, which does not enforce a directory boundary. An attacker who controls the `relativePath` argument to affected `CoursevaultPreview` methods may be able to read files outside the configured `baseDir` when a sibling directory exists whose name shares the same string prefix.
## Details
The vulnerable code in `src/utils/errors.ts`:
```ts
if (!full.startsWith(base)) { // ← insufficient
throw new Error("Path escapes the base directory");
}
```
Because the check is a raw string prefix test rather than a path-boundary test, the following bypass is possible:
```
baseDir = "/srv/courses"
payload = "../courses-admin/config.json"
resolved = "/srv/courses-admin/config.json"
"/srv/courses-admin/config.json".startsWith("/srv/courses") // → true ✗
```
Any file whose absolute path begins with the `baseDir` string — including files in sibling directories that share a name prefix — passes the guard and can be accessed by the caller through affected file-access methods.
The fix replaces the check with a separator-aware comparison:
```ts
if (full !== base && !full.startsWith(base + sep)) {
throw new Error("Path escapes the base directory");
}
```
## Impact
An application that passes untrusted input as the `relativePath` argument to affected file-access methods may expose file contents outside the intended directory.
1. Attacker control over the `relativePath` parameter.
2. A sibling directory on the filesystem whose name shares a string prefix with `baseDir`.
There is no network exposure in the package itself; impact is limited to local file disclosure within the host process's file system permissions.
References
External links from the advisory. They lead to third-party sites.