Security Resilience

CVE-2023-2780

Lfprojects Mlflow ≤ 2.3.1

Public PoC
Published
17 May 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
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 0.064 94th 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-2023-2780 is a critical-severity Path Traversal: '\..\filename' (CWE-29) vulnerability in Lfprojects Mlflow. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV 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.

The vulnerability is a path traversal flaw (CWE-29) that accepts traversal sequences such as '\..\filename' and affects the open-source MLflow machine-learning platform in all versions prior to 2.3.1. The issue received a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8, reflecting network-accessible attack vectors that require no authentication or user interaction.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can supply crafted paths to read or write arbitrary files on the server, resulting in full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Because the flaw is exposed through MLflow's network interfaces, any reachable instance is potentially reachable by an external adversary.

The maintainers resolved the issue in commit fae77a525dd908c56d6204a4cef1c1c75b4e9857, which shipped with MLflow 2.3.1; the referenced huntr.dev report confirms the same remediation. Operators should upgrade immediately and verify that no untrusted path inputs reach the affected endpoints.

The associated EPSS score has reached a peak of 0.8777 (current value 0.8614), indicating sustained and substantial exploitation interest since disclosure. As an ML-lifecycle tool, the affected component is commonly deployed in data-science and production environments, increasing the practical impact of successful attacks.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Path Traversal: '\..\filename' in GitHub repository mlflow/mlflow prior to 2.3.1.

CWE(s)
CWE-29

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-6975Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2023-6977Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2023-1177Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2023-6909Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2024-8859Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2025-15036Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2024-3848Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2024-3573Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2023-6831Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow
CVE-2024-2928Same product: Lfprojects Mlflow

Affected Assets

lfprojects
mlflow
≤ 2.3.1

Mitigating Controls

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-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that block this traversal vector.

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.8.19 Installation of software on operational systems partial match
removes
A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
blocks

Application security requirements can mandate input validation and path canonicalization to block traversal sequences.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (least privilege, default-deny, distrust-external-input, hardening, design review against attack patterns) that reach path-traversal neutralization in many but not all cases; business-process-specific controls, outsourced development, and residual design choices leave a bounded remainder unaddressed.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly require neutralizing path traversal sequences such as '\..\filename'.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance partial match
finds

Security testing can discover path-traversal flaws but does not itself prevent them in production code.

A.8.8 Management of technical vulnerabilities partial match
removes

References