CVE-2023-36822
MEDIUMCVE-2023-36822 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in uptime-kuma. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2023-36822 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Uptime Kuma authenticated path traversal via plugin repository name may lead to unavailability or data loss
Blast Radius
uptime-kumaReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects npm packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Uptime Kuma, a self-hosted monitoring tool, has a path traversal vulnerability in versions prior to 1.22.1. Uptime Kuma allows authenticated users to install plugins from an official list of plugins. This feature is currently disabled in the web interface, but the corresponding API endpoints are still available after login. Before a plugin is downloaded, the plugin installation directory is checked for existence. If it exists, it's removed before the plugin installation. Because the plugin is not validated against the official list of plugins or sanitized, the check for existence and the removal of the plugin installation directory are prone to path traversal. This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to delete files from the server Uptime Kuma is running on. Depending on which files are deleted, Uptime Kuma or the whole system may become unavailable due to data loss.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | uptime-kuma | all versions | 1.22.1 |
Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for uptime-kuma. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update uptime-kuma to 1.22.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-36822 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 pinpoints whether CVE-2023-36822 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2023-36822. 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-2023-36822 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2023-36822 across npm dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.