Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-51365

Path Traversal in Qnap Qts 4.5.1 – 4.5.4.2627

Published
26 April 2024
Modified
10 December 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.7
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.35 98th percentile
Risk Priority 78 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-51365 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Qnap Qts. Its CVSS base score is 8.7 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 2% 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.

A path traversal vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-51365 affects multiple versions of QNAP QTS, QuTS hero, and QuTScloud operating systems. The flaw, assigned CWE-22, permits unauthorized reading of file contents outside intended directories, potentially exposing sensitive data over the network. It carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.7 reflecting network attack vector, high complexity, no required privileges or user interaction, and impacts to integrity and availability with changed scope.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by supplying crafted path sequences in network requests to read arbitrary files on the affected NAS device. Successful exploitation could allow disclosure of configuration files, credentials, or other sensitive information without authentication, though the high attack complexity noted in the CVSS vector indicates non-trivial conditions must be met.

QNAP has addressed the vulnerability in QTS 5.1.4.2596 build 20231128 and later, QTS 4.5.4.2627 build 20231225 and later, QuTS hero h5.1.3.2578 build 20231110 and later, QuTS hero h4.5.4.2626 build 20231225 and later, and QuTScloud c5.1.5.2651 and later, as detailed in security advisory QSA-24-14. The current EPSS score of 0.1217 shows no material increase from a lower baseline.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A path traversal vulnerability has been reported to affect several QNAP operating system versions. If exploited, the vulnerability could allow users to read the contents of unexpected files and expose sensitive data via a network. We have already fixed the…

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vulnerability in the following versions: QTS 5.1.4.2596 build 20231128 and later QTS 4.5.4.2627 build 20231225 and later QuTS hero h5.1.3.2578 build 20231110 and later QuTS hero h4.5.4.2626 build 20231225 and later QuTScloud c5.1.5.2651 and later

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-2023-32974Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2023-45027Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2023-45026Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2023-51364Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2025-59381Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2025-30270Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2024-37046Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2025-59380Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2026-24717Same product: Qnap Qts
CVE-2024-21904Same product: Qnap Qts

Affected Assets

qnap
qts
4.5.4.2627, 5.1.4.2596 · 4.5.1 — 4.5.4.2627 · 5.1.0 — 5.1.4.2596
qnap
quts hero
h4.5.4.2626, h5.1.3.2578 · h4.5.0 — h4.5.4.2626 · h5.1.0 — h5.1.3.2578
qnap
qutscloud
c5.0.0.1919 — c5.1.5.2651

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

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.

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