GHSA-8g7v-vjrc-x4g5 — gs-main
HIGHGHSA-8g7v-vjrc-x4g5 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.2) Path Traversal vulnerability in org.geoserver:gs-main. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
GeoServer log file path traversal vulnerability
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-8g7v-vjrc-x4g5.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-8g7v-vjrc-x4g5 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 379,842 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
org.geoserver:gs-mainReal-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
Impact
This vulnerability requires GeoServer Administrator with access to the admin console to misconfigured the Global Settings for log file location to an arbitrary location.
This can be used to read files via the admin console GeoServer Logs page. It is also possible to leverage RCE or cause denial of service by overwriting key GeoServer files.
Patches
This issue has been addressed in GeoServer 3.0.0:
- The Global Settings page can no longer be used to specify log file location
- The application parameter
GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATIONmechanism (outlined below) is now the only approach available to customize the log file location.
Workarounds
A system administrator responsible for running GeoServer can define the GEOSERVER_LOG_FILE parameter, preventing the global setting provided from being used.
The GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION parameter can be set as system property, environment variable, or servlet context parameter.
Environmental variable:
export GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION=/var/opt/geoserver/logs
System property:
-DGEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION=/var/opt/geoserver/logs
Web application WEB-INF/web.xml:
<context-param>
<param-name> GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION </param-name>
<param-value>/var/opt/geoserver/logs</param-value>
</context-param>
Tomcat conf/Catalina/localhost/geoserver.xml:
<Context>
<Parameter name="GEOSERVER_LOG_LOCATION"
value="/var/opt/geoserver/logs" override="false"/>
</Context>
References
- Upgrading GeoServer 3
- Log location (User Manual)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| ☕Maven | org.geoserver:gs-main | all versions | No fix |
Affected Products
geoservergeoserverDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for org.geoserver:gs-main, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of org.geoserver:gs-main has shipped for GHSA-8g7v-vjrc-x4g5 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
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 GHSA-8g7v-vjrc-x4g5 in your dependencies?
Find it across Maven, including transitive dependencies.