CVE-2024-0465: Employee Profile Management Path Traversal

CVE-2024-0465 Overview

CVE-2024-0465 is a path traversal vulnerability in code-projects Employee Profile Management System 1.0. The flaw resides in download.php, where the download_file parameter is passed to file-handling logic without proper sanitization. An unauthenticated remote attacker can supply ../ sequences to read files outside the intended download directory.

The issue is tracked as VDB-250570 and mapped to CWE-24: Path Traversal ../filedir. Public disclosure includes a proof-of-concept document, increasing the likelihood of opportunistic exploitation against exposed installations.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can read arbitrary files accessible to the web server process, including configuration files that may expose database credentials and application secrets.

Affected Products

code-projects Employee Profile Management System 1.0
Deployments exposing download.php to untrusted networks
Installations without web application firewall (WAF) filtering of traversal sequences

Discovery Timeline

2024-01-12 - CVE-2024-0465 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-0465

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability affects the file download handler in download.php. The script accepts the download_file query parameter and uses it to build a filesystem path that is then read and returned in the HTTP response. Because the parameter is not validated against a whitelist or canonicalized before use, attackers can traverse outside the intended download directory.

Exploitation requires only a crafted HTTP GET request. No authentication, session, or user interaction is required. Confidentiality of files readable by the web server user is at risk, while integrity and availability are not directly affected by this issue.

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-24, which covers path traversal using relative path sequences such as ../. Successful exploitation can expose source code, configuration files, credential stores, and system files such as /etc/passwd on Linux hosts.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing input validation on the download_file parameter. The application concatenates user-controlled input into a file path without stripping directory traversal sequences, canonicalizing the resulting path, or verifying that the resolved path remains within an allowed base directory.

Attack Vector

An attacker sends a crafted request to download.php with the download_file parameter set to a traversal payload such as ../../../../etc/passwd or ..\..\..\windows\win.ini. The server resolves the path and returns the contents of the target file in the HTTP response. For technical proof-of-concept details, see the published file read vulnerability report and the VulDB entry.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-0465

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to download.php containing ../, ..\, or URL-encoded equivalents (%2e%2e%2f, %2e%2e%5c) in the download_file parameter
Web server access logs showing successful 200 responses to download.php requests referencing files outside the application's download directory
Unexpected reads of sensitive files such as config.php, .env, /etc/passwd, or database connection files by the web server process

Detection Strategies

Deploy web application firewall rules that inspect query parameters for path traversal patterns and encoded variants
Correlate access log entries for download.php with the requested file paths to identify anomalous file access
Baseline legitimate download_file values and alert on any request referencing paths outside the expected directory

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose HTTP access logging including full query strings and referrer headers on the web server hosting the application
Monitor file access on the web server host for reads of sensitive configuration and system files by the PHP or web server user
Forward web server logs to a centralized analytics platform for retrospective hunting against traversal payload signatures

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-0465

Immediate Actions Required

Restrict network access to the Employee Profile Management System, placing it behind authenticated VPN or IP allow-listing until a fix is available
Deploy WAF rules to block requests to download.php containing traversal sequences or encoded variants
Audit web server logs for prior exploitation attempts targeting download.php with the download_file parameter

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the NVD entry for CVE-2024-0465. Organizations running code-projects Employee Profile Management System 1.0 should evaluate whether the application is required and consider migrating to a maintained alternative. Review the VulDB incident report for any updated remediation guidance.

Workarounds

Modify download.php to accept only a file identifier (for example, a numeric ID) and resolve the actual filename server-side from a database mapping
Apply canonicalization using PHP's realpath() and verify the resolved path begins with the allowed base directory before serving the file
Reject any download_file value containing .., forward slashes, backslashes, or null bytes prior to filesystem access
Run the web server process under a dedicated low-privilege account with read access limited to the intended document root

bash

# Example WAF rule (ModSecurity) blocking traversal in download_file
SecRule ARGS:download_file "@rx (\.\./|\.\.\\|%2e%2e%2f|%2e%2e%5c)" \
    "id:1002465,phase:2,deny,status:403,\
    msg:'CVE-2024-0465 path traversal attempt in download.php'"