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Critical

internetarchive is vulnerable to Directory Traversal through file downloads

Type: advisorySources: OSV

internetarchive is a Python and Command-Line Interface to Archive.org In versions 5.5.0 and below, there is a directory traversal (path traversal) vulnerability in the File.download() method of the internetarchive library. The file.download() method does not properly sanitize user-supplied filenames or validate the final download path. A maliciously crafted filename could contain path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../../windows/system32/file.txt) or illegal characters that, when processed, would cause the file to be written outside of the intended target directory. An attacker could potentially overwrite critical system files or application configuration files, leading to a denial of service, privilege escalation, or remote code execution, depending on the context in which the library is used. The vulnerability is particularly critical for users on Windows systems, but all operating systems are affected. This issue is fixed in version 5.5.1.

Products
Not specified
Affected versions
Not specified
Fixed versions
Not specified
CVEs
CVE-2025-58438
Confirmed fixed CVEs
Not specified
Updated in this feed
3 Nov 2026, 01:11 UTC · Revision 1

Source evidence

internetarchive is vulnerable to Directory Traversal through file downloads

core-osv · Original source

Published 6 Sept 2025, 18:45 UTC

internetarchive is a Python and Command-Line Interface to Archive.org In versions 5.5.0 and below, there is a directory traversal (path traversal) vulnerability in the File.download() method of the internetarchive library. The file.download() method does not properly sanitize user-supplied filenames or validate the final download path. A maliciously crafted filename could contain path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../../windows/system32/file.txt) or illegal characters that, when processed, would cause the file to be written outside of the intended target directory. An attacker could potentially overwrite critical system files or application configuration files, leading to a denial of service, privilege escalation, or remote code execution, depending on the context in which the library is used. The vulnerability is particularly critical for users on Windows systems, but all operating systems are affected. This issue is fixed in version 5.5.1.

osv:CVE-2025-58438
Complete source record
{
  "id": "f413abd20adbe1809f2dc15a4e48b91d04c51b5c9c016bf11cf25844f8cb31a3",
  "url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-58438",
  "method": "structured",
  "payload": {
    "kind": "advisory",
    "title": "internetarchive is vulnerable to Directory Traversal through file downloads",
    "summary": "internetarchive is a Python and Command-Line Interface to Archive.org In versions 5.5.0 and below, there is a directory traversal (path traversal) vulnerability in the File.download() method of the internetarchive library. The file.download() method does not properly sanitize user-supplied filenames or validate the final download path. A maliciously crafted filename could contain path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../../windows/system32/file.txt) or illegal characters that, when processed, would cause the file to be written outside of the intended target directory. An attacker could potentially overwrite critical system files or application configuration files, leading to a denial of service, privilege escalation, or remote code execution, depending on the context in which the library is used. The vulnerability is particularly critical for users on Windows systems, but all operating systems are affected. This issue is fixed in version 5.5.1.",
    "evidence": "osv:CVE-2025-58438",
    "products": [],
    "severity": "critical",
    "structured": {
      "id": "CVE-2025-58438",
      "aliases": [
        "CVE-2025-58438",
        "GHSA-wx3r-v6h7-frjp",
        "PYSEC-2026-357"
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "type": "CVSS_V4",
          "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H"
        }
      ],
      "affected": [
        {
          "ranges": [
            {
              "repo": "https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive",
              "type": "GIT",
              "events": [
                {
                  "introduced": "0"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "73141dbdd8039731c6344f2f29f74865c91e9533"
                },
                {
                  "fixed": "cba2d459e10a9489fb35caeba0b03e80f5f5d7c2"
                }
              ],
              "database_specific": {
                "extracted_events": [
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "introduced": "0"
                      },
                      {
                        "fixed": "5.5.1"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "AFFECTED_FIELD",
                    "strategy": "StringRangeExpression"
                  },
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "fixed": "cba2d459e10a9489fb35caeba0b03e80f5f5d7c2"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "REFERENCES_COMMIT"
                  },
                  {
                    "range": [
                      {
                        "fixed": "73141dbdd8039731c6344f2f29f74865c91e9533"
                      }
                    ],
                    "source": "REFERENCES_TAG",
                    "original_tag": "v5.5.1"
                  }
                ]
              }
            }
          ],
          "versions": [
            "v5.5.0",
            "v5.4.1",
            "v5.4.0",
            "v5.3.1",
            "v5.3.0",
            "v5.2.1",
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            "v5.1.0",
            "v5.0.5",
            "v5.0.4",
            "v5.0.3",
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            "v5.0.1",
            "v5.0.0",
            "v4.1.0",
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            "v1.9.6",
            "v1.9.5",
            "v1.9.4",
            "v1.9.3",
            "v1.9.2",
            "v1.9.0",
            "v1.8.5",
            "v1.8.4",
            "v1.8.3",
            "v1.8.2",
            "v1.8.1",
            "v1.8.0",
            "v1.7.7",
            "v1.7.6",
            "v1.7.3",
            "v1.7.2",
            "v1.7.1",
            "v1.7.0",
            "v1.6.0",
            "v1.5.0",
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            "v1.0.10",
            "v1.0.9",
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            "v1.0.3",
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            "v0.9.8",
            "v0.9.7",
            "v0.9.6",
            "v0.9.5",
            "v0.9.4",
            "v0.9.3",
            "v0.9.1"
          ],
          "database_specific": {
            "source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2025-58438.json"
          }
        }
      ],
      "modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:24.745077281Z",
      "provider": "osv",
      "references": [
        "https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive/releases/tag/v5.5.1",
        "https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/09/msg00030.html",
        "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2025/58xxx/CVE-2025-58438.json",
        "https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive/security/advisories/GHSA-wx3r-v6h7-frjp",
        "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-58438",
        "https://github.com/jjjake/internetarchive/commit/cba2d459e10a9489fb35caeba0b03e80f5f5d7c2"
      ],
      "provider_metadata": {
        "cwe_ids": [
          "CWE-22"
        ],
        "cna_assigner": "GitHub_M",
        "osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2025/58xxx/CVE-2025-58438.json"
      }
    },
    "related_cves": [
      {
        "value": "CVE-2025-58438",
        "evidence": "/id"
      }
    ],
    "security_relevant": true,
    "severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
  },
  "source_id": "core-osv",
  "document_id": 491449,
  "published_at": "2025-09-06T18:45:55.833+00:00"
}