CVE-2025-34120

LimeSurvey 2.0+ - 2.06+ Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Download via Serialized Backup Payload

State: Published
Severity: 8.7 High
Published: Jul 16, 2025
Updated: Nov 19, 2025
Reserved: Apr 15, 2025

Description

An unauthenticated file download vulnerability exists in LimeSurvey versions from 2.0+ up to and including 2.06+ Build 151014. The application fails to validate serialized input to the admin backup endpoint (`index.php/admin/update/sa/backup`), allowing attackers to specify arbitrary file paths using a crafted `datasupdateinfo` payload. The files are packaged in a ZIP archive and made available for download without authentication. This vulnerability can be exploited to read arbitrary files on the host system, including sensitive OS and configuration files.

Scores

CVSS	Score	Vector	Source
4.0	8.7 High	CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N	VulnCheck

Weaknesses

CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CWE-306 Missing Authentication for Critical Function

Affected Products

Product	Versions
LimeSurveyLimeSurvey GmbH	2.0+ through 2.06+ Build 151014Affected

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20210123073627/https://www.limesurvey.org/blog/22-security/136-limesurvey-security-advisory-10-2015vendor-advisorypatch
https://sec-consult.com/vulnerability-lab/advisory/multiple-critical-vulnerabilities-in-lime-survey/third-party-advisorytechnical-description
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/master/modules/auxiliary/admin/http/limesurvey_file_download.rbexploit
https://packetstorm.news/files/id/180855exploit
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/limesurvey-unauthenticated-arbitrary-file-downloadthird-party-advisory

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