CVE-2024-22204 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) Path Traversal vulnerability in whoogle-search. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2024-22204 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Whoogle Search Limited File Write vulnerability
Real-World Exposure
whoogle-searchReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Whoogle Search is a self-hosted metasearch engine. Versions 0.8.3 and prior have a limited file write vulnerability when the configuration options in Whoogle are enabled. The config function in app/routes.py does not validate the user-controlled name variable on line 447 and config_data variable on line 437. The name variable is insecurely concatenated in os.path.join, leading to path manipulation. The POST data from the config_data variable is saved with pickle.dump which leads to a limited file write. However, the data that is saved is earlier transformed into a dictionary and the url key value pair is added before the file is saved on the system. All in all, the issue allows us to save and overwrite files on the system that the application has permissions to, with a dictionary containing arbitrary data and the url key value, which is a limited file write. Version 0.8.4 contains a patch for this issue.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | whoogle-search | all versions | 0.8.4 |
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 whoogle-search. 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 whoogle-search to 0.8.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-22204 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-2024-22204 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-2024-22204. 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-2024-22204 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2024-22204 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.