CVE-2023-40494
Path Traversal in Lg Simple Editor 3.21.0
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-40494 is a critical-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Lg Simple Editor. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
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-2023-40494 is a directory traversal vulnerability in LG Simple Editor that permits arbitrary file deletion. The flaw resides in the deleteFolder method, which fails to validate a user-supplied path before performing file operations, allowing an attacker to supply a crafted path that results in deletion of arbitrary files on the affected installation.
Remote, unauthenticated attackers can exploit the issue over the network to delete files in the context of the SYSTEM account, producing high impact to integrity and availability with no required user interaction. The vulnerability was reported as ZDI-CAN-19921 and carries a CVSS score of 9.1. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at its peak value of 0.3985 with no material increase observed after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-45065
Vulnerability Data
LG Simple Editor deleteFolder Directory Traversal Arbitrary File Deletion Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to delete arbitrary files on affected installations of LG Simple Editor. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the…
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deleteFolder method. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of a user-supplied path prior to using it in file operations. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to delete files in the context of SYSTEM. . Was ZDI-CAN-19921.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.
Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.
Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.
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.
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 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.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.