CVE-2024-23334 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.9) Path Traversal vulnerability in aiohttp. 14 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for aiohttp — see the affected versions and patch details below.
aiohttp.web.static(follow_symlinks=True) is vulnerable to directory traversal
Exploitation Status
Proof-of-concept exploit code exists
- CISA’s SSVC triage found public proof-of-concept exploit code for this CVE, though no confirmed active exploitation.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-23334.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
aiohttpReal-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
Summary
Improperly configuring static resource resolution in aiohttp when used as a web server can result in the unauthorized reading of arbitrary files on the system.
Details
When using aiohttp as a web server and configuring static routes, it is necessary to specify the root path for static files. Additionally, the option 'follow_symlinks' can be used to determine whether to follow symbolic links outside the static root directory. When 'follow_symlinks' is set to True, there is no validation to check if a given file path is within the root directory.This can lead to directory traversal vulnerabilities, resulting in unauthorized access to arbitrary files on the system, even when symlinks are not present.
i.e. An application is only vulnerable with setup code like:
app.router.add_routes([
web.static("/static", "static/", follow_symlinks=True), # Remove follow_symlinks to avoid the vulnerability
])
Impact
This is a directory traversal vulnerability with CWE ID 22. When using aiohttp as a web server and enabling static resource resolution with follow_symlinks set to True, it can lead to this vulnerability. This vulnerability has been present since the introduction of the follow_symlinks parameter.
Workaround
Even if upgrading to a patched version of aiohttp, we recommend following these steps regardless.
If using follow_symlinks=True outside of a restricted local development environment, disable the option immediately. This option is NOT needed to follow symlinks which point to a location within the static root directory, it is only intended to allow a symlink to break out of the static directory. Even with this CVE fixed, there is still a substantial risk of misconfiguration when using this option on a server that accepts requests from remote users.
Additionally, aiohttp has always recommended using a reverse proxy server (such as nginx) to handle static resources and not to use these static resources in aiohttp for production environments. Doing so also protects against this vulnerability, and is why we expect the number of affected users to be very low.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | aiohttp | ≥ 1.0.5&&< 3.9.2 | 3.9.2pip install --upgrade 'aiohttp==3.9.2' |
Affected Products
aiohttpaiohttpfedorafedoraprojectResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
aiohttp 3.9.1 - directory traversal PoC
by Beatriz Fresno Naumova · Feb 4, 2026
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for aiohttp, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update aiohttp to 3.9.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-23334 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Resolve every user-supplied path to its canonical form and reject anything that escapes the intended directory, and run the component under an account that has no read or write access outside the directory it legitimately serves.
How to detect CVE-2024-23334
A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:
nuclei -id cve-2024-23334 -u https://target- Template
- aiohttp - Directory Traversal
- Severity
- high
- Impact
- Unauthenticated attackers can read arbitrary files on the server including sensitive configuration files with credentials and other sensitive data.
- Remediation
- Update aiohttp to version 3.9.2 or later, or disable follow_symlinks option.
Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (DhiyaneshDk), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.
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.
This vulnerability has been rated as having a moderate impact. There is a non-default precondition which is required to exploit it: the follow_symlinks setting needs to be enabled.
If using follow_symlinks=True outside of a restricted local development environment, disable the option immediately. This option is NOT needed to follow symlinks that point to a location within the static root directory; it is only intended to allow a symlink to break out of the static directory. Even with this CVE fixed, there is still a substantial risk of misconfiguration when using this option on a server that accepts requests from remote users. Additionally, aiohttp has always recommended using a reverse proxy server (such as nginx) to handle static resources and not to use these static resources in aiohttp for production environments. Doing so also protects against this vulnerability,…Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2024-23334 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.4 for RHEL 8 | automation-controller-0:4.5.5-2.el8ap | RHSA-2024:1640 |
| Red Hat Satellite 6.14 for RHEL 8 | python-aiohttp-0:3.9.2-0.1.el8pc | RHSA-2024:1536 |
| Red Hat Satellite 6.15 for RHEL 8 | python-aiohttp-0:3.9.2-1.el8pc | RHSA-2024:2010 |
| RHUI 4 for RHEL 8 | python-aiohttp-0:3.9.2-1.el8ui | RHSA-2024:1878 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-23334 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.