Overview
This report highlights a critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-54531, identified within JetBrains TeamCity versions prior to 2025.07. This vulnerability, targeting Windows systems, enables an attacker to execute path traversal attacks during plugin unpacking, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage. Given the high severity of this vulnerability, an urgent response from the affected users is required.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-54531
Severity: High – 7.7 CVSS Score
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: System compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
JetBrains TeamCity | Before 2025.07
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of a path traversal flaw in JetBrains TeamCity. When a plugin is being unpacked on a Windows system, it does not properly sanitize file paths. An attacker can craft a malicious plugin that, when unpacked, would allow files to be written outside of the intended directory, potentially overwriting critical system files or accessing sensitive information.
Conceptual Example Code
The following is a
conceptual
example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. An attacker could send a malicious plugin with a crafted path, like this:
POST /plugin/upload HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/octet-stream
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="../../../../Windows/System32/malicious.dll"
{ "malicious_payload": "..." }In this example, the malicious plugin is named ‘malicious.dll’ and is placed in the Windows System32 folder. When the plugin is unpacked, the malicious code is executed, leading to a potential system compromise.
Mitigation
Users are advised to immediately apply the vendor-provided patch to fix this vulnerability. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can be used as temporary mitigation. However, these are not long-term solutions and the patch should be applied as soon as it is feasible.
