Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:LCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-32725 is a high-severity Relative Path Traversal (CWE-23) vulnerability in Scitokens Scitokens Cpp Library. Its CVSS base score is 8.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 38% 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — 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-2026-32725 is an authorization bypass vulnerability (CWE-23) in the SciTokens C++ library (scitokens-cpp), a minimal implementation for creating and using SciTokens in C or C++ applications. Prior to version 1.4.1, the library fails to properly reject parent-directory traversal sequences ("..") in path-based scopes within tokens. Instead, it normalizes these paths by collapsing the components before authorization checks, allowing scopes intended for a specific directory to effectively grant access to parent directories and beyond.
An attacker with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit this over the network (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L) and no user interaction (UI:N). By crafting a token with a scope claim containing "../" traversals, the attacker bypasses intended restrictions, achieving high confidentiality (C:H) and integrity (I:H) impacts, with low availability impact (A:L) and unchanged scope (S:U), as scored at CVSS 8.3 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L). This enables unauthorized access to resources outside the scoped directory.
The issue is addressed in scitokens-cpp version 1.4.1, where the library now rejects tokens with traversal components rather than normalizing them. Security practitioners should upgrade to this version immediately, as detailed in the GitHub security advisory (GHSA-rqcx-mc9w-pjxp) and the patching commit (7951ed809967d88c00c20de414b1ff74df8c3e08).
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-17561
Vulnerability Data
SciTokens C++ is a minimal library for creating and using SciTokens from C or C++. Prior to version 1.4.1, scitokens-cpp is vulnerable to an authorization bypass when processing path-based scopes in tokens. The library normalizes the scope path from the…
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token before authorization and collapses ".." path components instead of rejecting them. As a result, an attacker can use parent-directory traversal in the scope claim to broaden the effective authorization beyond the intended directory. This issue has been patched in version 1.4.1.
- 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
Explicit validation of path inputs stops .. sequences from ever being interpreted by the file system.
Access enforcement directly blocks unauthorized file reads/writes that result from unresolved .. sequences.
Information-flow rules can be configured to reject traversals that would move data outside an approved directory boundary.
Least privilege reduces the set of reachable files even when a traversal succeeds.
Secure-engineering principles require safe pathname construction and input neutralization before any file operation.
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.
Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent relative traversal.
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, but does not itself implement the fix.
Secure coding standards require neutralizing path traversal sequences, directly addressing CWE-23.