CVE-2018-1002200 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver. 4 public exploit references exist, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory in plexus-archiver
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2018-1002200 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,238 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiverReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Maven packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
plexus-archiver before 3.6.0 is vulnerable to directory traversal, allowing attackers to write to arbitrary files via a ../ (dot dot slash) in an archive entry that is mishandled during extraction. This vulnerability is also known as 'Zip-Slip'.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver | all versions | 3.6.0org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver:3.6.0 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
plexus-archiver before 3.6.0 is vulnerable to directory traversal, allow…
plexus-archiver before 3.6.0 is vulnerable to directory traversal, allow…
plexus-archiver before 3.6.0 is vulnerable to directory traversal, allow…
plexus-archiver before 3.6.0 is vulnerable to directory traversal, allow…
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver to 3.6.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2018-1002200 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
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-2018-1002200 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2018-1002200. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | plexus-archiver-0:2.4.2-5.el7_5 | RHSA-2018:1836 |
| Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | rh-maven33-plexus-archiver-0:2.4.2-5.1.el6 | RHSA-2018:1837 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2018-1002200 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2018-1002200 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.