Technical impact
Audiobookshelf contains a path‑traversal vulnerability in its podcast creation endpoint, allowing an attacker to specify a file path that the server resolves without restricting it to the intended library directory. This enables disclosure of arbitrary files outside the library, such as configuration files or system data, thereby compromising confidentiality. The weakness is cataloged as CWE‑22.
Affected Systems
The flaw impacts the audiobookshelf self‑hosted audiobook and podcast server released by advplyr, specifically any instance running a version earlier than 2.32.2. Users of these unpatched versions are susceptible, while newer releases are protected.
Risk and Exploitability
The vulnerability carries a CVSS score of 6.9, indicating moderate severity for confidentiality loss. An attacker can exploit the flaw by sending a crafted request to the podcast creation endpoint with a relative path containing traversal sequences (e.g., ../../). The attack vector is inferred to be network‑based, requiring access to the public API, and no EPSS figure or KEV listing is available, though the risk remains present in any exposed deployment.
