Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-2110

Path Traversal in Obsidian ≤ 1.2.8

Public PoCPath Traversal
Published
19 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0033 26th percentile
Risk Priority 57 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-2110 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Obsidian Obsidian. Its CVSS base score is 8.2 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 26th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Improper path handling in Obsidian desktop before 1.2.8 on Windows, Linux and macOS allows a crafted webpage to access local files and exfiltrate them to remote web servers via "app://local/<absolute-path>". This vulnerability can be exploited if a user opens a…

more

malicious markdown file in Obsidian, or copies text from a malicious webpage and paste it into Obsidian.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-23250Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2024-0129Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2026-34657Same product: Apple Macos
CVE-2025-52450Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-41765Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-0704Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-52056Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2023-2316Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2024-52055Same product: Linux Linux Kernel
CVE-2026-28373Same product: Apple Macos

Affected Assets

obsidian
obsidian
≤ 1.2.8

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.

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
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.

finds

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