Security Resilience

CVE-2019-16278

Path Traversal in Nazgul Nostromo Nhttpd ≤ 1.9.7

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCPath Traversal
Published
14 October 2019
Modified
06 November 2025
KEV Added
07 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.99 99.9th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2019-16278 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Nazgul Nostromo Nhttpd. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Nostromo nhttpd versions through 1.9.6 are affected by a directory traversal vulnerability in the http_verify function, tracked as CVE-2019-16278 and CWE-22. The issue resides in the HTTP request handling logic of this lightweight web server and enables an attacker to traverse the filesystem via malformed input.

The flaw can be exploited remotely by an unauthenticated attacker over the network using a crafted HTTP request. Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution with full impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, consistent with the CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8.

Public exploit code demonstrating remote code execution has been published on PacketStorm and related repositories, confirming that working attacks against unpatched instances are readily available. No official vendor advisory or patch information is referenced in the available sources.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Directory Traversal in the function http_verify in nostromo nhttpd through 1.9.6 allows an attacker to achieve remote code execution via a crafted HTTP request.

CWE(s)
CWE-22
KEV Date Added
07 November 2024

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

Microsoft Corp. (Salesforce / Slack engineer recruitment claims)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
APT1 (G0006)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
Deep Panda (G0009)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
APT3 (G0022)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
Winnti Group (G0044)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
menuPass (G0045)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
Leviathan (G0065)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
APT19 (G0073)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
APT41 (G0096)
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA
AnonOps
Potential for China Cyber Response to Heightened U.S.–China Tensions | CISA

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1018 Remote System Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of other systems by IP address, hostname, or other logical identifier on a network that may be used for Lateral Movement from the current system.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-1708Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2022-41328Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2015-0016Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2021-41773Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2024-57727Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2020-14864Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2021-20123Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2016-0752Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2019-5418Shared CWE-22both on KEV
CVE-2025-4632Shared CWE-22both on KEV

Affected Assets

nazgul
nostromo nhttpd
≤ 1.9.7

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-22

Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
blocks

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References