CVE-2023-25168 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.6) CWE-59 vulnerability in github.com/pterodactyl/wings. A fix is available for github.com/pterodactyl/wings — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following allowing the deletion of files and directories on the host system in wings
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-25168.
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-2023-25168 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 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/pterodactyl/wings🐹github.com/pterodactyl/wingsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
This vulnerability impacts anyone running the affected versions of Wings. The vulnerability can be used to delete files and directories recursively on the host system. This vulnerability can be combined with GHSA-p8r3-83r8-jwj5 to overwrite files on the host system.
In order to use this exploit, an attacker must have an existing "server" allocated and controlled by Wings. Information on how the exploitation of this vulnerability works will be released on February 24th, 2023 in North America.
Patches
This vulnerability has been resolved in version v1.11.4 of Wings, and has been back-ported to the 1.7 release series in v1.7.4.
Anyone running v1.11.x should upgrade to v1.11.4 and anyone running v1.7.x should upgrade to v1.7.4.
Workarounds
None at this time.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/pterodactyl/wings | all versions | 1.7.4go get github.com/pterodactyl/wings@v1.7.4 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/pterodactyl/wings | ≥ 1.11.0&&< 1.11.4 | 1.11.4go get github.com/pterodactyl/wings@v1.11.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/pterodactyl/wings, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/pterodactyl/wings to 1.7.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-25168 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-2023-25168 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-25168. 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-2023-25168 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-25168 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.