Security Resilience

CWE · MITRE source

CWE-73External Control of File Name or Path

Abstraction: Base · CVEs in our corpus: 722

The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations.

This could allow an attacker to access or modify system files or other files that are critical to the application. Path manipulation errors occur when the following two conditions are met: For example, the program may give the attacker the ability to overwrite the specified file or run with a configuration controlled by the attacker.

Last updated: 16 October 2026 00:29 UTC

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

This weakness contributes to A06:2025 Insecure Design.

Control responseHuman-reviewed

Answering this weakness across the control lifecycle, from our framework cross-walks.

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53 / CSF Protect)
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • PR.AA-05
  • PR.PS-06
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (CSF Detect / Respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

NIST 800-53 r5 controls PROPOSED for this weakness (1)AI-assisted

These are model PROPOSALS, not graded mappings. They come from controls_to_cwe_proposals, which carries no grade field at all; across the CWE pages 1,540 of 1,722 such associations (89%) have never been graded by anything. The heading said “address” until 2026-09-29, which asserted a relationship the data does not carry. Graded cross-walks are on the framework map, not here.

Control Title Family Why it addresses this CWE
SI-10Information Input ValidationSIgraded mostly Rejects externally supplied file or resource identifiers that fail validity checks.

Top CVEs of this weakness type, ranked by Risk Priority

CVE Risk CVSS EPSS Published
CVE-2018-17246 9.99.80.82252018-12-20
CVE-2022-39952 9.99.80.99792023-02-16
CVE-2023-4634 9.99.80.85592023-09-06
CVE-2024-8517 9.99.80.94612024-09-06
CVE-2024-46909 9.39.80.48942024-12-02
CVE-2020-1631 KEV 9.28.80.04842020-05-04
CVE-2025-33053 KEV 9.28.80.87012025-06-10
CVE-2025-0851 8.69.80.23272025-01-29
CVE-2023-3643 8.37.30.75362023-07-12
CVE-2022-24900 7.99.90.08412022-04-29
CVE-2023-36019 7.99.60.15852023-12-12
CVE-2025-0105 7.99.10.13272025-01-11
CVE-2025-71334 7.99.80.04362026-06-25
CVE-2024-43451 KEV 7.76.50.85432024-11-12
CVE-2025-0111 KEV 7.76.50.02002025-02-12
CVE-2025-24054 KEV 7.76.50.62272025-03-11
CVE-2021-27250 7.66.50.67392021-04-14
CVE-2024-0087 7.69.00.19922024-05-14
CVE-2025-6463 7.68.80.15072025-07-02
CVE-2026-39907 7.610.00.00992026-04-14
CVE-2026-11526 7.69.80.01352026-06-14
CVE-2025-71338 7.610.00.01162026-06-25
CVE-2020-9752 7.59.80.01152020-03-23
CVE-2021-38477 7.59.80.01152021-10-22
CVE-2023-47862 7.59.80.01062024-01-10