Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2024-23334 is a medium-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Aiohttp Aiohttp. Its CVSS base score is 5.9 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
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.
aiohttp is an asynchronous HTTP client and server framework for Python and asyncio. The vulnerability is a path traversal flaw (CWE-22) that occurs when the framework is used as a web server and static routes are configured with the follow_symlinks option set to True. In this configuration, aiohttp performs no validation to ensure that requested files remain inside the designated static root directory, allowing access to arbitrary files on the underlying filesystem even in the absence of symbolic links. The issue affects all versions prior to 3.9.2 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 5.9.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the flaw over the network by sending crafted requests to a static file handler. Successful exploitation results in disclosure of sensitive files outside the intended web root, with high impact to confidentiality but no direct effect on integrity or availability. The attack requires the server to have explicitly enabled follow_symlinks and does not rely on the presence of symlinks.
The official GitHub security advisory and the fixing commit in version 3.9.2 recommend disabling follow_symlinks or placing aiohttp behind a reverse proxy that performs its own path validation. Fedora has also published updated packages that incorporate the fix.
The associated EPSS score remains high and stable near 0.94 with no material upward trajectory after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-0001
Vulnerability Data
aiohttp is an asynchronous HTTP client/server framework for asyncio and Python. When using aiohttp as a web server and configuring static routes, it is necessary to specify the root path for static files. Additionally, the option 'follow_symlinks' can be used…
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to determine whether to follow symbolic links outside the static root directory. When 'follow_symlinks' is set to True, there is no validation to check if reading a file is within the root directory. This can lead to directory traversal vulnerabilities, resulting in unauthorized access to arbitrary files on the system, even when symlinks are not present. Disabling follow_symlinks and using a reverse proxy are encouraged mitigations. Version 3.9.2 fixes this issue.
- 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.