CVE-2017-20284
HIGHCVE-2017-20284 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Path Traversal vulnerability. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
Caucho Resin contains a path traversal vulnerability in the documentation webapp (resin-doc) that allows remote unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files by supplying a relative…
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2017-20284.
Description
Caucho Resin contains a path traversal vulnerability in the documentation webapp (resin-doc) that allows remote unauthenticated attackers to read arbitrary files by supplying a relative path through the inputFile request parameter of the jndi-appconfig tutorial servlet. Attackers can craft requests with directory traversal sequences to the servlet endpoint to read files outside the intended tutorial directory on the underlying system. Exploitation evidence was first observed by the Shadowserver Foundation on 2021-12-10.
Detection & mitigation playbook
VulnerabilityDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for the affected component, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of the affected component has shipped for CVE-2017-20284 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2017-20284 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2017-20284. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2017-20284 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2017-20284 across dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.