Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
AccessObtain Wazuh cluster key
-
DeliveryConnect as malicious cluster worker
-
ExploitSend DistributedAPI get_list_file request
-
ExecutionInject path-traversal filename bypassing validation
-
ImpactRead client.keys and ossec.conf cluster secrets
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the attacker to possess the Wazuh cluster key and operate as a cluster worker able to send DistributedAPI requests to the manager - i.e., a multi-node cluster deployment where a worker node or the shared cluster key has been compromised or is attacker-controlled. The specific trigger is passing an unvalidated filename containing traversal sequences to the get_list_file helper (CDB-list retrieval path). Limiting factors: the PR:H barrier (cluster key is a privileged shared secret), relevance only to clustered Wazuh Manager installations (single-node deployments without cluster workers are not meaningfully exposed), affected versions 4.1.1 up to but not including 4.14.8, and impact limited to reading files readable by the wazuh user (no write/modify or availability effect). |
| Impact | This is a moderate, authentication-gated information-disclosure flaw rather than a drop-everything priority. The provided CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N, 6.9 MEDIUM) is internally consistent with the description: network-reachable, low complexity, but requiring high privilege (PR:H) - namely possession of the Wazuh cluster key - and delivering confidentiality-only impact (VC:H, no integrity or availability effect). No EPSS score, KEV listing, or public POC is present in the supplied intelligence, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation; this materially lowers near-term risk versus a high-CVSS network-unauthenticated bug. The real severity is contingent on the trust placed in the cluster key: because the flaw lets a malicious or compromised worker read client.keys and the ossec.conf cluster key itself, successful exploitation enables privilege/lateral escalation across the cluster, which is why confidentiality impact is rated high despite the high privilege barrier. Net assessment: a credible post-compromise/insider-threat escalation vector in multi-node Wazuh deployments, but not a mass-exploitable internet-facing issue; prioritize patching for clustered manager fleets, lower urgency for single-node installs. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who has obtained a Wazuh cluster key (e.g., via a compromised worker node or leaked configuration) joins the cluster and issues a DistributedAPI request to the vulnerable get_list_file helper with a filename containing path-traversal sequences. The manager returns the contents of arbitrary wazuh-readable files such as client.keys and ossec.conf, exposing agent secrets and the cluster key for further lateral movement. No public exploit code is identified in the supplied data, and exploitation requires the attacker to already hold the cluster key (PR:H). |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
Authenticated path traversal in Wazuh Manager versions 4.1.1 up to (but not including) 4.14.8 lets an attacker who already holds the shared cluster key - effectively a compromised or attacker-controlled cluster worker - pass traversal sequences as a filename to the get_list_file helper and read arbitrary files readable by the wazuh service account, including client.keys and an ossec.conf that may itself contain the cluster key. The access vector is network-based but gated behind high privileges (CVSS 4.0 PR:H, assessed as CVSS 3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N), so only multi-node clustered deployments where a worker node or the shared cluster key has been compromised are meaningfully exposed; single-node installs without cluster workers are not. There is no write, modify, or availability impact, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis - this is a moderate, authentication-gated information-disclosure issue rather than a drop-everything priority.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade Wazuh Manager to 4.14.8 or later (release tag v4.14.8, https://github.com/wazuh/wazuh/releases/tag/v4.14.8), which is the version that introduced the path validation on the CDB list retrieval/list/delete helpers referenced in PRs #37901, #38214 and #37838; the advisory at https://github.com/wazuh/wazuh/security/advisories/GHSA-xrjw-cqrv-j92g and the VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/wazuh-4.1.1-before-4.14.8-path-traversal-via-cluster-get-list-file should be consulted for the complete fix list. Because exploitation requires the cluster key, if an affected version was ever deployed in a multi-node cluster, treat the key as potentially compromised: rotate the cluster key and re-enroll workers, since ossec.conf and client.keys are exactly the files reachable and stolen key material would survive the patch. Until upgrading is possible, compensating controls are to firewall the cluster communication port (1516/TCP) so only known worker node IPs can reach the manager and to avoid running untrusted or shared-tenant worker nodes - the trade-off being that this narrows cluster topology flexibility and does not protect against a genuine worker compromise. Tightening filesystem permissions so the wazuh user cannot read ossec.conf or client.keys reduces blast radius but will break normal manager operation and is therefore a temporary hard-stop only. Single-node, cluster-disabled deployments can deprioritize this fix, accepting the loss of horizontal scalability; note that no compensating control fully substitutes for the 4.14.8 upgrade, since the vulnerable helper remains callable by anyone holding the key.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The flaw is a classic CWE-22 improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory. Wazuh's clustered architecture has worker nodes forward DistributedAPI requests to the manager over the cluster channel, authenticated with a shared cluster key. The get_list_file helper, used on the CDB-list retrieval path, accepted a caller-supplied filename without canonicalizing or confining it to the intended CDB list directory, so sequences such as ../ escaped the expected location and allowed reads of any file the wazuh user can open. The affected component is the Wazuh Manager (CPE cpe:2.3:a:wazuh:wazuh-manager:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* - the CPE string is version-agnostic, but the vendor advisory scopes it to >= 4.1.1 and < 4.14.8). Two targets make this more than a curiosity: client.keys holds agent pre-shared authentication keys, and ossec.conf can hold the cluster key itself, meaning a successful read can feed lateral movement or persistence into the monitored fleet. The same 4.14.8 release hardened several sibling paths - source path validation when retrieving CDB list files (PR #37901), path validation when listing and deleting CDB list files (PR #38214), and destination path validation when deleting rule and decoder files (PR #37838) - confirming that unvalidated file paths in manager helper functions were a systemic weakness in this code line. The relevant root-cause class is path traversal driven by missing input validation on a privileged internal API, not a memory-safety or deserialization bug.
Know when Wazuh Manager gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Network-reachable DistributedAPI with low complexity, but requires the privileged cluster key (PR:H); impact is confidentiality-only file disclosure (C:H), no integrity or availability effect.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
DescriptionCVE.org
Wazuh from 4.1.1 before 4.14.8 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the get_list_file helper that allows malicious cluster workers to read arbitrary files via unvalidated filename values. Attackers holding the cluster key can send DistributedAPI requests with traversal filenames to read client.keys, ossec.conf with the cluster key, and other wazuh-readable files.
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
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
More in Wazuh Manager
View allArbitrary file overwrite in Wazuh Manager (3.9.0 through versions prior to 4.14.8) lets an attacker who already controls
Arbitrary file read as root in Wazuh Manager 4.1.0 through 4.14.7 allows an enrolled agent to inject an upgrade_custom m
Wazuh Manager 4.0.0 through 4.14.7 fails to consult its token revocation blacklist inside the check_token routine, so a
Wazuh Manager 4.14.3 through 4.14.7 and 4.10.4 allow an authenticated API user holding manager:update_config to escalate
An authentication bypass in the Wazuh Manager API (versions 4.6.0 through 4.14.7) lets an account that already holds del
Path traversal in the Wazuh Manager cluster upload handlers (upload_list_file, upload_rule_file, upload_decoder_file) le
Path traversal in Wazuh Manager 4.1.1 through 4.14.7 lets an attacker who has already compromised a cluster worker node
Heap buffer overflow in Wazuh Manager's File Integrity Monitoring alert generation lets an enrolled agent corrupt manage
CPU exhaustion in Wazuh Manager 4.0.0-4.14.6 and 5.0.0-beta2 allows authenticated API users with the allow_run_as permis
Wazuh Manager 4.0.0 through 4.14.7 exposes the plaintext authd.pass agent-enrollment password to authenticated low-privi
Multiple shell injection and untrusted search path vulnerabilities in Wazuh agent and manager (versions 2.1.0 through 4.
Path traversal in Wazuh Manager's delete_rule_file and delete_decoder_file helpers lets an attacker who holds the Wazuh
EUVD-2026-98682
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
GitHub
Exploit-DB