Camaleon CMS vulnerable to arbitrary path traversal (GHSL-2024-183)GHSA-cp65-5m9r-vc2c
MEDIUMFix: owen2345/camaleon-cms@071b1b0GHSA-cp65-5m9r-vc2c is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) Path Traversal vulnerability in camaleon_cms. 3 public exploit or proof-of-concept references are indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for camaleon_cms — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-cp65-5m9r-vc2c.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
camaleon_cmsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A path traversal vulnerability accessible via MediaController's download_private_file method allows authenticated users to download any file on the web server Camaleon CMS is running on (depending on the file permissions).
In the download_private_file method:
def download_private_file
cama_uploader.enable_private_mode!
file = cama_uploader.fetch_file("private/#{params[:file]}")
send_file file, disposition: 'inline'
end
The file parameter is passed to the fetch_file method of the CamaleonCmsLocalUploader class (when files are uploaded locally):
def fetch_file(file_name)
raise ActionController::RoutingError, 'File not found' unless file_exists?(file_name)
file_name
end
If the file exists it's passed back to the download_private_file method where the file is sent to the user via send_file.
Proof of concept An authenticated user can download the /etc/passwd file by visiting an URL such as:
https://<camaleon-host>/admin/media/download_private_file?file=../../../../../../etc/passwd Impact This issue may lead to Information Disclosure.
Remediation Normalize file paths constructed from untrusted user input before using them and check that the resulting path is inside the targeted directory. Additionally, do not allow character sequences such as .. in untrusted input that is used to build paths.
See also:
CodeQL: Uncontrolled data used in path expression OWASP: Path Traversal
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | camaleon_cms | all versions | 2.8.1bundle update camaleon_cms --conservative |
Affected Products
camaleon cmstuzitioResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Camaleon CMS v2.9.0 - Path Traversal
by velampudisakshi · Apr 30, 2026
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for camaleon_cms, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update camaleon_cms to 2.8.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-cp65-5m9r-vc2c 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-cp65-5m9r-vc2c in your dependencies?
Find it across RubyGems, including transitive dependencies.