CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-37460 — Codehaus-Plexus Plexus-Archiver security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.8

Plexis Archiver is a collection of Plexus components to create archives or extract archives to a directory with a unified `Archiver`/`UnArchiver` API. Prior to version 4.8.0, using AbstractUnArchiver for extracting an archive might lead to an arbitrary file creation and possibly remote code execution. When extracting an archive with an entry that already exists in the destination directory as a symbolic link whose target does not exist - the `resolveFile()` function will return the symlink's source instead of its target, which will pass the verification that ensures the file will not be extracted outside of the destination directory. Later `Files.newOutputStream()`, that follows symlinks by default, will actually write the entry's content to the symlink's target. Whoever uses plexus archiver to extract an untrusted archive is vulnerable to an arbitrary file creation and possibly remote code execution. Version 4.8.0 contains a patch for this issue.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2023-07-25
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-22, CWE-61

Affected products

  • codehaus-plexus / plexus-archiver

Matched remediation archetype

Path traversal, unsafe upload, and file handling

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

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

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.