Technical impact
A path traversal flaw exists in the handling of the path component within .repo files processed by libzypp. The vulnerability can be exploited to write files to arbitrary directories outside the zypp cache, potentially compromising system integrity. This flaw falls under CWE‑22 and CWE‑24 and directly reduces the confidentiality and integrity of the system by allowing unauthorized file creation.
Affected Systems
The flaw affects the SUSE libzypp package prior to version 17.38.13 in the 17.x series and prior to 16.22.19 in the 16.x series. Any system that relies on libzypp for package repository management and uses .repo files is potentially vulnerable.
Risk and Exploitability
The CVSS score of 6.5 indicates a moderate severity, and no EPSS score is available, so exploitation likelihood cannot be quantified. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Based on the description, the likely attack vector is inferred to be local, as an attacker would need to create or modify .repo files, thereby making it a local privilege escalation vector. Affected systems should consider the risk as moderate until the library is patched.
