CVE-2025-55149 — tiny-scientist
Fix: ulab-uiuc/tiny-scientist@7fd4287CVE-2025-55149 is a Path Traversal vulnerability in tiny-scientist. The records list no fixed version yet; check the vendor advisory below and apply the mitigations in the meantime.
Path Traversal Vulnerability in PDF Review Function (CWE-22)
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-2025-55149.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
Real-World Exposure
tiny-scientistReal-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
Description
A critical path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) has been identified in the review_paper function in backend/app.py. The vulnerability allows malicious users to access arbitrary PDF files on the server by providing crafted file paths that bypass the intended security restrictions.
Impact
This vulnerability allows attackers to:
- Read any PDF file accessible to the server process
- Potentially access sensitive documents outside the intended directory
- Perform reconnaissance on the server's file system structure
Vulnerable Code
The issue occurs in the review_paper function around line 744:
if pdf_path.startswith("/api/files/"):
# Safe path handling for API routes
relative_path = pdf_path[len("/api/files/"):]
generated_base = os.path.join(project_root, "generated")
absolute_pdf_path = os.path.join(generated_base, relative_path)
else:
absolute_pdf_path = pdf_path # VULNERABLE: Direct use of user input
Proof of Concept
curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/review \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"pdf_path": "/etc/passwd"}'
Credit
This vulnerability was discovered and reported by Ruizhe.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | tiny-scientist | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for tiny-scientist, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
The records we use list no patched version of tiny-scientist for CVE-2025-55149. Check the maintainer's advisory, and where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range.
Mitigate without a patch
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-55149 in your dependencies?
Find it across PyPI, including transitive dependencies.