CVE-2025-52562: Convoy Panel Path Traversal Vulnerability

CVE-2025-52562 Overview

CVE-2025-52562 is a critical directory traversal vulnerability affecting Convoy, a KVM server management panel designed for hosting businesses. The vulnerability exists in the LocaleController component of Performave Convoy, where an unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit improperly validated locale and namespace parameters to traverse directories and include arbitrary PHP files on the server. This leads to remote code execution without any authentication requirements.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated remote attackers can achieve full server compromise by exploiting directory traversal to execute arbitrary PHP files, potentially gaining complete control over the hosting infrastructure.

Affected Products

Convoy Panel versions 3.9.0-rc3 through 4.4.0
Performave Convoy KVM server management panel (vulnerable versions)
Hosting environments utilizing affected Convoy panel deployments

Discovery Timeline

2025-06-23 - CVE CVE-2025-52562 published to NVD
2025-06-26 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-52562

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from a classic directory traversal weakness (CWE-22) within the LocaleController component. The affected endpoint accepts user-supplied locale and namespace parameters without adequate validation or sanitization. By crafting malicious input containing path traversal sequences (such as ../), an attacker can escape the intended directory structure and reference arbitrary PHP files elsewhere on the filesystem.

The severity of this vulnerability is compounded by its pre-authentication nature—no user credentials are required to exploit it. Once an attacker successfully includes a malicious PHP file, they achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the web server, potentially compromising the entire hosting infrastructure and all managed virtual machines.

Root Cause

The root cause lies in insufficient input validation for the locale and namespace parameters passed to the LocaleController. Prior to the patch, these parameters were not properly sanitized against path traversal sequences, allowing attackers to break out of the expected locale file directory and include arbitrary PHP files through local file inclusion (LFI).

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based with low complexity. An unauthenticated attacker sends a specially crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable LocaleController endpoint with malicious locale and namespace parameters containing directory traversal sequences. The server processes these parameters without proper validation, resulting in the inclusion and execution of arbitrary PHP files. This can lead to complete system compromise, including access to sensitive configuration data, database credentials, and control over hosted virtual machines.

The security patch introduces a dedicated LocaleRequest class with strict validation rules:

php

// Security patch - app/Http/Requests/Base/LocaleRequest.php
// Source: https://github.com/ConvoyPanel/panel/commit/f8d6202f3e4912b65dbd9f80ba625576944ab36c

+<?php
+
+namespace Convoy\Http\Requests\Base;
+
+use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;
+
+class LocaleRequest extends FormRequest
+{
+    public function rules(): array
+    {
+        return [
+            'locale' => ['required', 'string', 'in:en_US en'],
+            'namespace' => ['required', 'string', 'regex:/^(?!.*\.\.)[A-Za-z_. ]{1,191}$/'],
+        ];
+    }
+}

The patch implements two key protections: restricting the locale parameter to an allowlist of valid locales (en_US and en), and applying a regex pattern to the namespace parameter that explicitly blocks directory traversal sequences (..) while limiting characters to alphanumeric values, underscores, dots, and spaces.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-52562

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to locale-related endpoints containing ../ or encoded path traversal sequences (%2e%2e%2f)
Unusual access patterns to the LocaleController endpoint from external IP addresses
Web server logs showing requests with abnormally long or malformed locale/namespace parameters
Evidence of arbitrary PHP file access outside the expected locale directory structure

Detection Strategies

Implement WAF rules to detect and block requests containing path traversal patterns targeting locale endpoints
Monitor web server access logs for requests containing .., %2e%2e, or other directory traversal encodings
Deploy file integrity monitoring on critical PHP files to detect unauthorized modifications
Utilize intrusion detection systems (IDS) with signatures for PHP local file inclusion attacks

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable verbose logging on the Convoy panel application to capture all incoming request parameters
Set up real-time alerting for any blocked requests matching directory traversal patterns
Monitor process execution from the web server user account for anomalous command execution
Implement network traffic analysis to identify potential data exfiltration following compromise

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-52562

Immediate Actions Required

Upgrade Convoy Panel to version 4.4.1 or later immediately
Review web server access logs for evidence of exploitation attempts targeting LocaleController
If immediate patching is not possible, implement WAF rules to block requests with path traversal sequences
Audit systems for signs of compromise if running vulnerable versions exposed to the internet

Patch Information

The vulnerability has been patched in Convoy Panel version 4.4.1. The fix introduces a new LocaleRequest validation class that enforces strict allowlisting for the locale parameter and applies regex-based filtering on the namespace parameter to prevent directory traversal sequences. Organizations should upgrade to version 4.4.1 or later by following the official update procedures. For additional details, refer to the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-43g3-qpwq-hfgg and the security patch commit.

Workarounds

Deploy Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block requests containing ../, ..%2f, %2e%2e/, and similar path traversal patterns targeting locale endpoints
Restrict network access to the Convoy panel administration interface to trusted IP addresses only
Consider placing vulnerable instances behind a reverse proxy with strict request filtering until patching can be completed
Temporarily disable or restrict access to the locale functionality if not critical for operations

bash

# Example WAF rule for ModSecurity to block path traversal attempts
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains LocaleController" \
    "id:100001,phase:1,deny,status:403,log,msg:'Potential CVE-2025-52562 exploitation attempt',\
    chain"
SecRule ARGS "@rx \.\.[\\/]" "t:urlDecode,t:htmlEntityDecode"