CVE-2021-29492
Bypass of path matching rules using escaped slash characters
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 8.1 High
- Published
- May 28, 2021
- Updated
- Aug 3, 2024
- Reserved
- Mar 30, 2021
Description
Envoy is a cloud-native edge/middle/service proxy. Envoy does not decode escaped slash sequences `%2F` and `%5C` in HTTP URL paths in versions 1.18.2 and before. A remote attacker may craft a path with escaped slashes, e.g. `/something%2F..%2Fadmin`, to bypass access control, e.g. a block on `/admin`. A backend server could then decode slash sequences and normalize path and provide an attacker access beyond the scope provided for by the access control policy. ### Impact Escalation of Privileges when using RBAC or JWT filters with enforcement based on URL path. Users with back end servers that interpret `%2F` and `/` and `%5C` and `\` interchangeably are impacted. ### Attack Vector URL paths containing escaped slash characters delivered by untrusted client. Patches in versions 1.18.3, 1.17.3, 1.16.4, 1.15.5 contain new path normalization option to decode escaped slash characters. As a workaround, if back end servers treat `%2F` and `/` and `%5C` and `\` interchangeably and a URL path based access control is configured, one may reconfigure the back end server to not treat `%2F` and `/` and `%5C` and `\` interchangeably.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 8.1 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | GitHub_M |
Weaknesses
- CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
envoyenvoyproxy |
|
References
Every record here comes from the CVE Program’s CVE List. © 1999–2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. The records are reproduced under the CVE Program terms of use.