CVE-2023-41877 — gs-main
HIGHCVE-2023-41877 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.geoserver:gs-main. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
GeoServer log file path traversal vulnerability
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-2023-41877.
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-2023-41877 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 378,567 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
org.geoserver:gs-mainReal-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
Impact
This vulnerability requires GeoServer Administrator with access to the admin console to misconfigured the Global Settings for log file location to an arbitrary location.
This can be used to read files via the admin console GeoServer Logs page. It is also possible to leverage RCE or cause denial of service by overwriting key GeoServer files.
Patches
This issue has been addressed in GeoServer 3.0.0:
- The Global Settings page can no longer be used to specify log file location
- The application parameter
GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATIONmechanism (outlined below) is now the only approach available to customize the log file location.
Workarounds
A system administrator responsible for running GeoServer can define the GEOSERVER_LOG_FILE parameter, preventing the global setting provided from being used.
The GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION parameter can be set as system property, environment variable, or servlet context parameter.
Environmental variable:
export GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION=/var/opt/geoserver/logs
System property:
-DGEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION=/var/opt/geoserver/logs
Web application WEB-INF/web.xml:
<context-param>
<param-name> GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION </param-name>
<param-value>/var/opt/geoserver/logs</param-value>
</context-param>
Tomcat conf/Catalina/localhost/geoserver.xml:
<Context>
<Parameter name="GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION"
value="/var/opt/geoserver/logs" override="false"/>
</Context>
References
- Upgrading GeoServer 3
- Log location (User Manual)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.geoserver:gs-main | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.geoserver:gs-main, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of org.geoserver:gs-main has shipped for CVE-2023-41877 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-2023-41877 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-41877. 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-2023-41877 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-41877 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.