CVE-2023-6569: h2oai h2o-3 arbitrary file overwrite via path traversal

Executive brief

A vulnerability in the H2O-3 machine learning platform allows remote attackers to overwrite files on the server without needing to log in. This could lead to service disruptions or the corruption of critical system files. While the attacker can choose which file to overwrite, the content they can insert is partially restricted by the application's file export format.

Technical details

A path traversal or external control of file path vulnerability (CWE-73) exists in h2oai/h2o-3. Remote, unauthenticated attackers can exploit this by providing a malicious file path during data export operations (such as CSV or XLS exports). This allows the attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the server's filesystem. While the file path is fully controllable, the injected data is constrained by the export format; for example, CSV exports wrap the data in quotations and prepend specific headers like 'C1'. The vulnerability is patched in version 3.46.0.1.

Affected products

• h2oai h2o-3 < 3.46.0.1

Timeline

• 2023-12-14: disclosed
• 2023-12-14: advisory
• 2023-12-14: patched

References

• https://api.github.com/users/RainSignal
• https://github.com/RainSignal
• https://api.github.com/users/RainSignal/gists%7B/gist_id%7D
• https://api.github.com/users/RainSignal/repos
• https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/101503193?v=4
• https://api.github.com/users/RainSignal/events%7B/privacy%7D