Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2024-42471 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Github Actions\/Artifact. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 13% 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-2024-42471 affects the actions/artifact package in the GitHub Actions Toolkit on the 2.x branch prior to version 2.1.2. The flaw is a path traversal issue (CWE-22) that permits arbitrary file writes when the functions downloadArtifactInternal, downloadArtifactPublic, or streamExtractExternal process a specially crafted artifact containing traversal sequences in filenames.
An authenticated attacker who can supply or substitute a malicious artifact can exploit the vulnerability to write files outside the intended extraction directory on the runner or host executing the action. Successful exploitation yields high confidentiality and integrity impact but no availability impact, consistent with the reported CVSS 7.3 score.
The GitHub advisory GHSA-6q32-hq47-5qq3 and the associated pull request direct users to upgrade to actions/artifact 2.1.2 or later; no workarounds are documented. The referenced Snyk research on Zip-Slip provides additional background on the class of extraction vulnerabilities.
EPSS for the CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0771, indicating measurable post-disclosure exploitation interest that warrants renewed attention even though current probability sits at 0.0541.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-2737
Vulnerability Data
actions/artifact is the GitHub ToolKit for developing GitHub Actions. Versions of `actions/artifact` on the 2.x branch before 2.1.2 are vulnerable to arbitrary file write when using `downloadArtifactInternal`, `downloadArtifactPublic`, or `streamExtractExternal` for extracting a specifically crafted artifact that contains path traversal…
more
filenames. Users are advised to upgrade to version 2.1.2 or higher. There are no known workarounds for 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.
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.