Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-26960

Path Traversal in Std42 Elfinder ≤ 2.1.61

Public PoCHigh EPSSPath Traversal
Published
21 March 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
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:N
EPSS Score 0.51 99th percentile
Risk Priority 92 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-26960 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Std42 Elfinder. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

CVE-2022-26960 is a path traversal vulnerability in connector.minimal.php within std42 elFinder versions through 2.1.60. The flaw stems from improper handling of absolute file paths and is tracked under CWE-22, carrying a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.1.

Unauthenticated remote attackers can exploit the issue over the network to read, write, and browse arbitrary files outside the application's configured document root, achieving high impact on confidentiality and integrity without any user interaction or privileges.

Public references point to a fix committed to the elFinder repository that addresses the path traversal logic, and detailed analysis from Synacktiv describes the vulnerability and its exploitation implications. The associated EPSS score remains elevated near 0.84 with no material post-disclosure climb indicated.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

connector.minimal.php in std42 elFinder through 2.1.60 is affected by path traversal. This allows unauthenticated remote attackers to read, write, and browse files outside the configured document root. This is due to improper handling of absolute file paths.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1005 Data from Local System Collectionconfidence: HIGH
Path traversal allows reading arbitrary files outside the document root, directly enabling data collection from the local system.
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discoveryconfidence: HIGH
Ability to browse arbitrary directories outside the intended root facilitates file and directory discovery.
T1105 Ingress Tool Transfer Command And Controlconfidence: HIGH
Write capability via path traversal enables an attacker to upload or transfer tools/files onto the compromised host.
T1222 File and Directory Permissions Modification Defense Impairmentconfidence: MEDIUM
Write access to arbitrary files could be leveraged to modify file or directory permissions.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-35840Same product: Std42 Elfinder
CVE-2021-32682Same product: Std42 Elfinder
CVE-2023-37218Shared CWE-22
CVE-2026-41655Shared CWE-22
CVE-2025-7712Shared CWE-22
CVE-2020-4430Shared CWE-22
CVE-2025-41035Shared CWE-22
CVE-2021-47977Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-3980Shared CWE-22
CVE-2026-32805Shared CWE-22

Affected Assets

std42
elfinder
≤ 2.1.61

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires validation of file-path inputs to reject absolute paths and directory-traversal sequences that enable the elFinder bypass.

prevent

Enforces the intended access-control policy that only files inside the configured document root may be read or written, blocking the unauthorized operations.

prevent

Implements information-flow rules that confine file-system operations to the designated root, limiting the scope of any path-traversal attempt.

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
prevents

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
prevents

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.

detects

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References