GHSA-g7r4-m6w7-qqqr

    Dashboard / Vulnerabilities / GHSA-g7r4-m6w7-qqqr

    GHSA-g7r4-m6w7-qqqr

    Published: 12 Jun 2026Last Modified: 10 Sept 2026

    Summary: esbuild allows arbitrary file read when running the development server on Windows

    Details: ### Summary The development server contains a path traversal vulnerability on Windows when serving files from `servedir`. Due to the use of `path.Clean()` (which only normalizes forward-slash `/` separators) instead of a Windows-aware path normalization function, it is possible to craft requests using backslashes (`\`) that bypass the intended directory containment logic. An attacker can escape the configured `servedir` root and access arbitrary files on the filesystem. This issue affects Windows environments only. ### Details The request path is sanitized using: ```go // https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/blob/v0.27.3/pkg/api/serve_other.go#L165 queryPath := path.Clean(req.URL.Path)[1:] ``` However: - `path.Clean()` is POSIX-style and only understands `/` (docs: `https://pkg.go.dev/path#Clean`) - On Windows, `\` is a valid path separator - `path.Clean()` does not treat `\` as a separator Later, the server constructs the absolute path: ```go // https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/blob/v0.27.3/pkg/api/serve_other.go#L221 absPath := h.fs.Join(h.servedir, queryPath) ``` If `queryPath` contains sequences such as: ``` ..\..\..\..\..\..\..\Windows\system.ini ``` `path.Clean()` will not normalize them, but the Windows filesystem will interpret `\` as directory separators when resolving `absPath`. Because the implementation does not verify that the final resolved path remains within `servedir`, it allows directory traversal outside the intended root directory. ### Vulnerable Code ```go // https://github.com/evanw/esbuild/blob/v0.27.3/pkg/api/serve_other.go#L165 queryPath := path.Clean(req.URL.Path)[1:] .... // Check for a file in the "servedir" directory if h.servedir != "" && kind != fs.FileEntry { absPath := h.fs.Join(h.servedir, queryPath) if absDir := h.fs.Dir(absPath); absDir != absPath { if entries, err, _ := h.fs.ReadDirectory(absDir); err == nil { if entry, _ := entries.Get(h.fs.Base(absPath)); entry != nil && entry.Kind(h.fs) == fs.FileEntry { .... ``` ### Steps to reproduce ``` npm install --save-exact --save-dev esbuild echo "console.log(1)" > app.js .\node_modules\.bin\esbuild --version 0.27.3 .\node_modules\.bin\esbuild app.js --bundle --outdir=www --servedir=www --watch curl -i --path-as-is "http://localhost:8000/..\..\..\..\..\..\..\Windows\system.ini" <content of Windows\system.ini> ``` ### Impact - Arbitrary file read on Windows - Exposure of sensitive files

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: esbuild

    Purl: pkg:npm/esbuild

    Affected ranges

    Type: SEMVER

    Events:

    Introduced- 0.27.3
    Fixed -0.28.1

    Affected versions

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High
    GHSA-g7r4-m6w7-qqqr | CVE-DB