Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-6023

Path Traversal in Vertaai Modeldb

Public PoCPath Traversal
Published
16 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
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:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.030 86th percentile
Risk Priority 78 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-6023 is a high-severity Path Traversal: '\..\filename' (CWE-29) vulnerability in Vertaai Modeldb. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 14% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as Other AI Platforms; in the Privacy and Disclosure risk domain.

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-2023-6023 is a local file inclusion vulnerability present in the ModelDB server. It stems from improper handling of the artifact_path URL parameter, which permits an attacker to read arbitrary files from the underlying server filesystem. The flaw is tracked under CWE-22 and CWE-29 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.5.

Remote attackers require no authentication or user interaction to exploit the issue, enabling them to retrieve any readable file on the host and resulting in high confidentiality impact without affecting integrity or availability.

The vulnerability was reported via huntr.com bounties. Its EPSS score reached a peak of 0.5119 and currently stands at 0.4794.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An attacker can read any file on the filesystem on the server hosting ModelDB through an LFI in the artifact_path URL parameter.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
Other AI Platforms
Risk Domain
Privacy and Disclosure
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
ModelDB is an open-source ML model management and metadata store platform, fitting 'Other Platforms' as it handles ML experiments, models, and artifacts, and the vulnerability is reported on an AI/ML bug bounty platform (huntr).

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.
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.
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
T1552 Unsecured Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may search compromised systems to find and obtain insecurely stored credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-6831Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-3573Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-2928Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-3848Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-7962Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-7774Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-4320Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2023-1177Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-3429Shared CWE-22, CWE-29
CVE-2024-2624Shared CWE-22, CWE-29

Affected Assets

vertaai
modeldb
all versions

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-06 mostly match
prevents

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

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

prevents

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

prevents

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

prevents

Secure architecture principles include directory sandboxing and safe file-access design that mitigate path traversal.

prevents

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

mitigates

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

References