CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2022-23602 — Nimforum is a lightweight alternative to Discourse written in Nim

High CVSS 8.1

Nimforum is a lightweight alternative to Discourse written in Nim. In versions prior to 2.2.0 any forum user can create a new thread/post with an include referencing a file local to the host operating system. Nimforum will render the file if able. This can also be done silently by using NimForum's post "preview" endpoint. Even if NimForum is running as a non-critical user, the forum.json secrets can be stolen. Version 2.2.0 of NimForum includes patches for this vulnerability. Users are advised to upgrade as soon as is possible. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.1 (3.1)
Published
2022-02-01
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-22

Affected products

  • nim-lang / docutils
  • nim-lang / nimforum

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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