Description
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in Apache Camel Mina SFTP component.



This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.18.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1.



The Camel remote-file consumers poll a directory on a remote server and build the absolute remote path of each file by concatenating the configured directory with the file name reported in the server's directory listing. That concatenation (FtpUtils.absoluteFilePath and GenericFileConsumer) applied no lexical normalization and no check that the result stayed inside the directory being polled, and the resulting path became the operand for every subsequent remote operation on the file: retrieval (FtpOperations.retrieveFile / SftpOperations, reached from GenericFileConsumer where the retrieve name is taken verbatim from GenericFile.getAbsoluteFilePath), deletion when delete=true (GenericFileDeleteProcessStrategy), and renaming when move, preMove, moveFailed or readLock=rename is configured (GenericFileProcessStrategySupport and GenericFileRenameExclusiveReadLockStrategy). Neither isValidFile nor isMatched performed any containment check. A listing entry that is not a single path segment therefore resolved to a path outside the configured polling directory, causing Camel to read, delete or rename files outside it using the endpoint's own credentials. A listing name is not route-controlled data. It is supplied by the remote server, and the FTP control channel carries no integrity protection at all, so an on-path attacker can rewrite a LIST response without holding any credentials; a compromised, malicious or multi-tenant server, or a server backed by a virtual filesystem, can emit such a name directly. Retrieval is reachable in a default consumer configuration, since the remote consumers download every listed file; deletion and renaming additionally require one of the disposition options above, all of which are common. Escape from the directory Camel was configured to poll is unconditional, while escape from the server's own account boundary additionally depends on whether that server confines the account. The jailStartingDirectory option, which is documented as restricting Camel to the starting directory and is enabled by default, governed producer writes and, since the localWorkDirectory containment work, consumer downloads to the local work directory - but it did not constrain this remote operand, so its name and description claimed a boundary that was not enforced here. The same entry point had already been recognised on the local side: the localWorkDirectory download path was constrained so that a remote file name containing parent-directory segments could not resolve outside the local work directory. The remote operand was the remaining half of that surface. This artifact provides the mina-sftp scheme, an alternative SFTP implementation whose consumer derives from the same RemoteFileConsumer base class and therefore inherited the same unconstrained resolution.



Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.22.x releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. The 4.14.x stream reached end of life and does not receive this fix; users on it should move to a supported releases stream.
Published: 2026-10-19
Score: 7.4 High
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
Impact: Unrestricted Remote File Access via Path Traversal
Action: Patch Immediately
AI Analysis

Impact

Apache Camel’s Mina SFTP component builds a file’s absolute remote path by concatenating a configured directory with the filename returned in the server’s LIST response. The implementation performs no lexical normalization or containment check, so a filename that contains ".." or other directory‑separating characters resolves to a remote path outside the intended polling directory. When the consumer processes the file, Camel subsequently performs whatever file operation it is configured to execute—retrieval, deletion, or renaming—using the endpoint’s own credentials. This flaw enables an attacker who can influence the directory listing to read, delete, or rename arbitrary files on the remote server, effectively bypassing the logical directory boundary that Camel expects to enforce. The weakness is a classic directory traversal (CWE‑22).

Affected Systems

The issue is present in Apache Camel 4.18.0 through 4.18.4, 4.19.0 through 4.21.x, and 4.22.0 through 4.22.0 (and earlier 4.22 releases). Users on the 4.22.x release stream should upgrade to 4.22.1 or later, while those on the 4.18.x LTS stream must upgrade to 4.18.5. The 4.14.x stream has reached end of life and is not receiving a fix; users on that stream should move to a supported release.

Risk and Exploitability

The CVSS score of 7.4 indicates a high‑severity flaw. EPSS data are not available, but the vulnerability can be exploited by any system that accepts a directory listing from a remote server whose content the user cannot trust, such as a compromised or malicious SFTP server or a multi‑tenant host. The attack does not require additional authentication beyond the consumer’s existing credentials, and the listing is transmitted over the SSH control channel which encrypts the traffic but offers no integrity protection. Because the flaw allows both read and destructive operations, an attacker with a manipulated listing could cause data theft or loss. The vulnerability is not currently catalogued in CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list, but its high CVSS score and potential impact warrant immediate attention.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on October 19, 2026 at 11:21 UTC.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.22.x releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. The 4.14.x stream reached end of life and does not receive this fix; users on it should move to a supported releases stream. The fix adds a separator-aware GenericFileHelper.isWithinDirectory overload, since remote paths always use a forward slash regardless of the platform Camel runs on, and a GenericFileConsumer.isWithinStartingDirectory strategy consulted from isValidFile when jailStartingDirectory is enabled. The base implementation is a no-op, because names obtained from a local directory listing are always single path segments; RemoteFileConsumer and SmbConsumer override it to compact the resolved path and verify on path-segment boundaries that it still resolves inside the directory being polled. A file resolving outside is skipped and a warning is logged, rather than raising, so that the remaining legitimate entries in the same listing still process. Containment was chosen over stripping the path component because remote directories are legitimately nested and a parent-directory segment that still resolves back inside the polled directory remains valid. The check runs after the existing match filters so that the "." and ".." entries returned by SFTP servers, which the hidden-file rule already excludes, do not log on every poll. The change adds no new module dependency.

Vendor Workaround

For deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, verify the server's host key rather than accepting it on first use, so that the listing cannot be supplied by a substituted server. The SSH transport already protects the listing in transit, so the remaining exposure is a server that is itself malicious, compromised or shared. Constrain the consumer with the filter, antInclude or include options so that only simple single-segment file names are accepted, and avoid enabling delete=true, move, preMove, moveFailed or readLock=rename on endpoints pointing at a server whose listing content is not fully trusted, since those options are what turn the issue from a read into a destructive operation. Where the server supports it, confine the account used by the endpoint to the polled directory, so that the server itself enforces the boundary independently of Camel. As defence in depth, treat file names reported by any remote server outside the route's trust boundary as untrusted input.

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Upgrade Apache Camel to version 4.23.0 or later (or to 4.22.1 for the 4.22.x stream and 4.18.5 for the 4.18.x LTS stream) to apply the path containment fix.
  • If an upgrade is not possible right away, restrict the consumer to accept only single‑segment file names by configuring antInclude/include filters and avoid enabling delete, move, preMove, moveFailed, or readLock=rename options on endpoints pointing to untrusted servers.
  • Verify the remote server’s host key and, where supported, restrict the account used by the SFTP endpoint to the polled directory so the server itself enforces the boundary; otherwise, treat any file name that appears outside the expected path as untrusted input.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on October 19, 2026 at 11:21 UTC.

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History

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Apache
Apache apache Camel
Apache camel
Vendors & Products Apache
Apache apache Camel
Apache camel

Mon, 19 Oct 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in Apache Camel Mina SFTP component. This issue affects Apache Camel: from 4.18.0 before 4.18.5, from 4.19.0 before 4.22.1. The Camel remote-file consumers poll a directory on a remote server and build the absolute remote path of each file by concatenating the configured directory with the file name reported in the server's directory listing. That concatenation (FtpUtils.absoluteFilePath and GenericFileConsumer) applied no lexical normalization and no check that the result stayed inside the directory being polled, and the resulting path became the operand for every subsequent remote operation on the file: retrieval (FtpOperations.retrieveFile / SftpOperations, reached from GenericFileConsumer where the retrieve name is taken verbatim from GenericFile.getAbsoluteFilePath), deletion when delete=true (GenericFileDeleteProcessStrategy), and renaming when move, preMove, moveFailed or readLock=rename is configured (GenericFileProcessStrategySupport and GenericFileRenameExclusiveReadLockStrategy). Neither isValidFile nor isMatched performed any containment check. A listing entry that is not a single path segment therefore resolved to a path outside the configured polling directory, causing Camel to read, delete or rename files outside it using the endpoint's own credentials. A listing name is not route-controlled data. It is supplied by the remote server, and the FTP control channel carries no integrity protection at all, so an on-path attacker can rewrite a LIST response without holding any credentials; a compromised, malicious or multi-tenant server, or a server backed by a virtual filesystem, can emit such a name directly. Retrieval is reachable in a default consumer configuration, since the remote consumers download every listed file; deletion and renaming additionally require one of the disposition options above, all of which are common. Escape from the directory Camel was configured to poll is unconditional, while escape from the server's own account boundary additionally depends on whether that server confines the account. The jailStartingDirectory option, which is documented as restricting Camel to the starting directory and is enabled by default, governed producer writes and, since the localWorkDirectory containment work, consumer downloads to the local work directory - but it did not constrain this remote operand, so its name and description claimed a boundary that was not enforced here. The same entry point had already been recognised on the local side: the localWorkDirectory download path was constrained so that a remote file name containing parent-directory segments could not resolve outside the local work directory. The remote operand was the remaining half of that surface. This artifact provides the mina-sftp scheme, an alternative SFTP implementation whose consumer derives from the same RemoteFileConsumer base class and therefore inherited the same unconstrained resolution. Upgrade to Apache Camel 4.23.0, which fixes the issue. Users on the 4.22.x releases stream should upgrade to 4.22.1. Users on the 4.18.x LTS releases stream should upgrade to 4.18.5. The 4.14.x stream reached end of life and does not receive this fix; users on it should move to a supported releases stream.
Title Apache Camel: camel-mina-sftp resolved the remote path of a polled file from the name reported in the server directory listing without constraining it to the directory being polled, so a listing entry containing traversal segments could be moved outside
Weaknesses CWE-22
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.4, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N'}

Subscriptions

Apache Apache Camel Camel
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: apache

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-19T10:15:38.348Z

Reserved: 2026-08-25T16:20:02.733Z

Link: CVE-2026-79984

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-19T11:17:20.437

Modified: 2026-10-19T11:17:20.437

Link: CVE-2026-79984

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-10-19T16:30:13Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-22

    Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')