CVE-2025-70952
Published: 25 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2025-70952 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Pf4J Project Pf4J. 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 35.5% 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 are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2025-70952 is a path traversal vulnerability, also known as a Zip Slip attack, affecting pf4j versions prior to commit 20c2f80. The issue resides in the extract() function of Unzip.java, where zip entry names are not properly normalized or validated, enabling directory traversal. Published on 2026-03-25, it has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) and is associated with CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory.
Remote unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity and no user interaction required. By supplying a malicious ZIP archive, attackers can traverse directories during extraction, leading to high-impact denial of service through availability disruption, such as resource exhaustion or application crashes, without affecting confidentiality or integrity.
Mitigation involves updating to pf4j commit 20c2f80089d1ea779e22c2de5f109a0bce4e1b14 or later, which addresses the path normalization deficiency. Details are documented in GitHub issues #618 and #623, along with a related gist providing additional context.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-209006
Vulnerability details
pf4j before 20c2f80 has a path traversal vulnerability in the extract() function of Unzip.java, where improper handling of zip entry names can allow directory traversal or Zip Slip attacks, due to a lack of proper path normalization and validation.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Path traversal in ZIP extraction (Zip Slip) allows remote supply of malicious archive leading to application/system DoS via exploitation; matches public-facing app exploitation and endpoint DoS via software vuln.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly addresses the CVE by requiring timely identification, reporting, and patching of the path traversal flaw in pf4j's extract() function to the fixed commit 20c2f80.
Mandates validation of zip entry names at extraction points to block directory traversal and Zip Slip attacks due to improper path normalization.
Provides denial-of-service protections such as resource limits to mitigate availability disruptions from malicious ZIP extraction leading to exhaustion or crashes.