CVE-2002-0131

ActivePython ActiveX control in AXScript allows remote file reading in Internet Explorer due to security flaws

• CVSS 5.0
• CWE-358: Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard allows unprivileged code execution
• Input Validation and Sanitization
• Remote

ActivePython ActiveX control for Python in the AXScript package, when used in Internet Explorer, does not prevent a script from reading files from the client's filesystem, which allows remote attackers to read arbitrary files via a malicious web page containing Python script.

CVE

CVE-2002-0131

CWE

CWE-358: Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard allows unprivileged code execution

CVSS base score

5.0

Published

2002-03-25

OWASP

A01 Broken Access Control

Orthogonal defect classification

Function

Code defect classification

Incorrect Functionality

Category

Input Validation and Sanitization

Subcategory

Path Traversal

Accessibility scope

Remote

Impact

Information Disclosure

Fixed by upgrading

Yes

Solution

Upgrade ActivePython ActiveX control to a secure version.

class ActiveXControl:
    def read_file(self, file_path):
        with open(file_path, 'r') as file:
            return file.read()

activex_control = ActiveXControl()
content = activex_control.read_file("C:/path/to/arbitrary/file.txt")
print(content)

import os

class ActiveXControl:
    def __init__(self):
        self.allowed_paths = [os.path.expanduser("~")]

    def read_file(self, file_path):
        normalized_path = os.path.abspath(file_path)
        
        if any(normalized_path.startswith(os.path.abspath(allowed_path)) for allowed_path in self.allowed_paths):
            with open(normalized_path, 'r') as file:
                return file.read()
        else:
            raise PermissionError("Access to the requested file is denied.")

_control = ActiveXControl()
try:
    content = _control.read_file("C:/path/to/arbitrary/file.txt")
    print(content)
except PermissionError as e:
    print(e)

@misc{vaitp:cve20020131,
  title        = {{ActivePython ActiveX control in AXScript allows remote file reading in Internet Explorer due to security flaws}},
  author       = {Bogaerts, Fr\'ed\'eric and Ivaki, Naghmeh and Fonseca, Jos\'e},
  year         = {2002},
  note         = {VAITP Python Vulnerability Dataset, entry CVE-2002-0131},
  howpublished = {\url{https://netpack.pt/vaitp/vulnerability/CVE-2002-0131/}}
}