CVE-2025-58438internetarchive is vulnerable to Directory Traversal through file downloads
- 9.4CriticalCVSS base score
- 1.6%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 24% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
internetarchive is a Python and Command-Line Interface to Archive.org In versions 5.5.0 and below, there is a directory traversal (path traversal) vulnerability in the File.download() method of the internetarchive library. The file.download() method does not properly sanitize user-supplied filenames or validate the final download path. A maliciously crafted filename could contain path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../../windows/system32/file.txt) or illegal characters that, when processed, would cause the file to be written outside of the intended target directory. An attacker could potentially overwrite critical system files or application configuration files, leading to a denial of service, privilege escalation, or remote code execution, depending on the context in which the library is used. The vulnerability is particularly critical for users on Windows systems, but all operating systems are affected. This issue is fixed in version 5.5.1.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 5 days later
· 5 days later
Published
- 58 days later
· 58 days later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 4.0 | Critical9.4 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 4.0 | Critical9.4 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 1.6% · top 24% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.4.
Affected products
- affected < 5.5.1
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIinternetarchiveGHSA-wx3r-v6h7-frjp (opens in a new tab)
References
References4
- https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive/security/advisories/GHSA-wx3r-v6h7-frjp (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive/commit/cba2d459e10a9489fb35caeba0b03e80f5f5d7c2 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive/releases/tag/v5.5.1 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/09/msg00030.html (opens in a new tab)
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2025-27084 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-wx3r-v6h7-frjp (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2025-58438)Record last updated .