CVE-2024-36116 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in com.reposilite:reposilite-backend. A fix is available for com.reposilite:reposilite-backend — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Path traversal in Reposilite javadoc file expansion
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.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-36116.
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-2024-36116 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
com.reposilite:reposilite-backendReal-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
Summary
Reposilite v3.5.10 is affected by an Arbitrary File Upload vulnerability via path traversal in expanding of Javadoc archives.
Details
Reposilite provides support for JavaDocs files, which are archives that contain documentation for artifacts. Specifically, JavadocEndpoints.kt controller allows to expand the javadoc archive into the server's file system and return its content. The problem is in the way how the archives are expanded, specifically how the new filename is created:
JavadocContainerService.kt#L127-L136
jarFile.entries().asSequence().forEach { file ->
if (file.isDirectory) {
return@forEach
}
val path = Paths.get(javadocUnpackPath.toString() + "/" + file.name)
path.parent?.also { parent -> Files.createDirectories(parent) }
jarFile.getInputStream(file).copyToAndClose(path.outputStream())
}.asSuccess<Unit, ErrorResponse>()
The file.name taken from the archive can contain path traversal characters, such as '/../../../anything.txt', so the resulting extraction path can be outside the target directory.
Impact
If the archive is taken from an untrusted source, such as Maven Central or JitPack for example, an attacker can craft a special archive to overwrite any local file on Reposilite instance. This could lead to remote code execution, for example by placing a new plugin into the '$workspace$/plugins' directory. Alternatively, an attacker can overwrite the content of any other package.
Note that the attacker can use its own malicious package from Maven Central to overwrite any other package on Reposilite.
Steps to reproduce
- Create a malicious javadoc archive that contains filenames with path traversal characters:
zip test-1.0-javadoc.jar ../../../../../../../../tmp/evil.txt index.html
Make sure that ../../../../../../../../tmp/evil.txt and index.html files exist on the system where you create this archive.
-
Publish this archive to the repository which Reposilite is mirroring, such as Maven Central or JitPack. For the test purposes, I used my own server that imitates the upstream maven repository: http://artsploit.com/maven/com/artsploit/reposilite-zipslip/1.0/reposilite-zipslip-1.0-javadoc.jar
-
Start Reposilite with 'releases' repository mirroring to 'http://artsploit.com/maven/'
-
Now, if the attacker send the request to http://localhost:8080/javadoc/releases/com/artsploit/reposilite-zipslip/1.0, the aforementioned archive will be obtained from the http://artsploit.com/maven/com/artsploit/reposilite-zipslip/1.0/reposilite-zipslip-1.0-javadoc.jar address and its 'evil.txt' file will be expanded to '$workspace$/tmp/evil.txt'. Note that to perform this action, an attacker does not need to provide any credentials, as fetching from the mirrored repository does not require authentication.
-
Confirm that '$workspace$/tmp/evil.txt' is created on the server where Reposilite is running.
Remediation
Normalize (remove all occurrences of /../) the file.name variable before concatenating it with javadocUnpackPath. E.g.:
val path = Paths.get(javadocUnpackPath.toString() + "/" + Paths.get(file.name).normalize().toString())
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | com.reposilite:reposilite-backend | ≥ 3.3.0&&< 3.5.12 | 3.5.12com.reposilite:reposilite-backend:3.5.12 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for com.reposilite:reposilite-backend, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update com.reposilite:reposilite-backend to 3.5.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-36116 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-2024-36116 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-36116. 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-2024-36116 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-36116 across Maven dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.