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Response snapshot Oct 28, 2026, 16:36 UTC

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VulnerabilityCVE-2022-24840

Path Traversal in django-s3file

It was possible to traverse the entire AWS S3 bucket and in most cases to access or delete files. The issue was discovered by the maintainer. There were no reports of the vulnerability being known to or exploited by a third party, before the release of the patch.

Published Updated

At a glance

Exploited
Not known
Severity
9.3 Critical (CVSS 4.0)
Chance of exploitation
2.1% in the next 30 days
Sources
1 source

What to do

GitHub lists first patched versions: django-s3file: 5.5.1. Confirm the affected range and upgrade guidance in the exact advisory.

Read GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-4w8f-hjm9-xwgf (opens a new tab)

What happened

Impact

It was possible to traverse the entire AWS S3 bucket and in most cases to access or delete files. The issue was discovered by the maintainer. There were no reports of the vulnerability being known to or exploited by a third party, before the release of the patch.

If the AWS_LOCATION setting was set, traversal was limited to that location only. If all your files handling views (like form views) require authentication or special permission, the thread is limited to privileged users.

Patches

Continue reading

The vulnerability has been fixed in version 5.5.1 and above.

Workarounds

There is no feasible workaround. We must urge all users to immediately updated to a patched version.

Detailed attack vector description

An attacker may use a request with malicious form data to traverse the entire AWS S3 bucket and perform destructive operations.

An attack could look as follows:

curl -X POST -F "s3file=file" -F "file=/priviliged/location/secrets.txt" https://www.example.com/any/path/will/work/

This will result in a request with files set and opened:

>>> request.FILES.getlist("file")
[File("/priviliged/location/secrets.txt")]

Since this behavior is injected via a middleware, any view can be called this way and will carry any files defined by the attacker.

Via the s3file form field, any input name can be specified, including multiple inputs. For each input, multiple files can be freely picked of the S3 bucket.

Scenarios and their practicality

There are four scenarios that would be considered practical in most setups:

1. Illegal file injection, 2. file deletion, 3. file retrieval & tree traversal. 4. code injection & remote code execution.

File deletion

An attacker knows the location of a privileged file, like a static asset. Next, the file is injected into a form view. The upload to function will move the file to a new location. This is effectively deleting the file, since the previous references to it are invalid, and will cause S3 to return a 404. Furthermore, the new location is unknown to the site operator.

File retrieval & tree traversal

An attacker knows the URL of a secret file and injects it into a form view. The view will move the file to a public location, making it accessible to the attacker. Since most form views will not be rate limited, this could also be used to guess files and traverse the file tree.

Illegal file injection

An attacker uses any form to upload a file to the temporary upload location. Next, the attacker injects that file into a request, does not validate the contents or is not equipped to handle the mime type. The latter could be used as a potential DOS vector.

In practice, this is not a practical risk in most hardened setup. Files should always be sanitized before processing, since files can be included in a request even without this security issues.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue on [GitHub](https://github.com/codingjoe/django-s3file/issues) * Email us at [johannes@maron.family](mailto:johannes@maron.family)

Affected package ranges reported by GitHub: django-s3file: < 5.5.1

Scores and how they were measured

CVSS base severity

9.3

Version 4.0As of

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Measurement source (opens a new tab)

How bad it is if exploited. Not a prediction of exploitation or proof you are exposed.

EPSS probability

2.1%

Scored Percentile 81.3%

Model and measurement source (opens a new tab)

A model's estimate of exploitation in the next 30 days, not certainty or your own risk.

Related technology

Follow Python packages (PyPI): RSS feedAll its recordsAsk your AI assistant

Sources

  1. Primary source

    GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-4w8f-hjm9-xwgf (opens a new tab)

    The public advisory supplies the description, affected package/version ranges, and any listed CVSS metric. GitHub review is not local review.

    Published Checked

  2. Primary source

    GitHub public advisory API page (opens a new tab)

    The API page supplied GHSA-4w8f-hjm9-xwgf, its actual identifiers, source dates, and structured metrics.

    Published Date not suppliedChecked

  3. Primary source

    FIRST measured EPSS score (opens a new tab)

    Measured EPSS probability and percentile for CVE-2022-24840, scored 2026-10-27. This is a model estimate, not proof of exposure.

    Published Checked

Cite this record

For factual claims, cite the primary sources above; cite KEVWire for its compilation, dates, and classifications.

APA

KEVWire. (2026, October 28). Path Traversal in django-s3file (CVE-2022-24840). https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2022-24840

MLA

"Path Traversal in django-s3file (CVE-2022-24840)." KEVWire, 28 Oct. 2026, kevwire.com/record/CVE-2022-24840.

Chicago

KEVWire. "Path Traversal in django-s3file (CVE-2022-24840)." Last modified October 28, 2026. https://kevwire.com/record/CVE-2022-24840.

Evidence summary (plain text)

Path Traversal in django-s3file (Jun 6, 2022).
It was possible to traverse the entire AWS S3 bucket and in most cases to access or delete files.
The issue was discovered by the maintainer. There were no reports of the vulnerability
being known to or exploited by a third party, before the release of the patch.

If the AWS_LOCATION setting was set, traversal was limited to that location only.
If all your files handling views (like form views) require authentication or special permission, the thread is limited to privileged users.

The vulnerability has been fixed in version 5.5.1 and above.

There is no feasible workaround.
CVSS 9.3 (version 4.0; evidence as of Oct 28, 2026; https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-4w8f-hjm9-xwgf).
EPSS 2.1% for the following 30 days, scored Oct 27, 2026 (https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2022-24840&date=2026-10-27).
Sources:
GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-4w8f-hjm9-xwgf: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-4w8f-hjm9-xwgf
GitHub public advisory API page: https://api.github.com/advisories?type=reviewed&per_page=100&sort=updated&direction=desc
FIRST measured EPSS score: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2022-24840&date=2026-10-27
Record ID: CVE-2022-24840.
Record origin: Ingested record.
AI evidence: Not assessed.
Known exploitation: Not assessed.
Zero-day status: Not assessed. KEV membership alone does not establish zero-day status.
About this data

This record was ingested from a data source. Retrieved: Oct 28, 2026, 14:11 UTC. Ingestion is not an independent editorial investigation.

A CISA KEV listing documents known exploitation, not necessarily a zero-day; absence from the catalog does not prove a vulnerability has never been exploited.

Technology tags indicate possible relevance, not verified exposure. Confirm the affected product, version, and configuration against your own inventory; KEVWire does not scan your systems.

A personal reading checklist on this device, not verified remediation.

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