CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-26299 — ftp-srv is an open-source FTP server designed to be simple yet configurable

Critical CVSS 9.6

ftp-srv is an open-source FTP server designed to be simple yet configurable. In ftp-srv before version 4.4.0 there is a path-traversal vulnerability. Clients of FTP servers utilizing ftp-srv hosted on Windows machines can escape the FTP user's defined root folder using the expected FTP commands, for example, CWD and UPDR. When windows separators exist within the path (`\`), `path.resolve` leaves the upper pointers intact and allows the user to move beyond the root folder defined for that user. We did not take that into account when creating the path resolve function. The issue is patched in version 4.4.0 (commit 457b859450a37cba10ff3c431eb4aa67771122e3).

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.6 (3.1)
Published
2021-02-10
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-22

Affected products

  • ftp-srv_project / ftp-srv

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted filenames, archive entries, URLs, and path segments into read, write, include, extraction, and upload operations.
  • Identify filesystem roots, mount permissions, symbolic-link behavior, archive handling, and whether uploaded content is web-accessible or executable.
  • Review canonicalization and containment checks across supported operating systems and storage backends.

Remediate safely

  • Generate server-side storage identifiers and resolve paths beneath a fixed root using filesystem-aware containment checks.
  • Reject absolute, parent-relative, alternate-separator, device, link, and archive entries that escape the intended root.
  • Store uploads outside executable or served paths, validate type and size, and use private atomic temporary files.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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