CVE-2025-55149
Unknown Unknown - Not Provided
BaseFortify

Publication date: 2025-08-09

Last updated on: 2025-08-11

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description
Tiny-Scientist is a lightweight framework for automating the entire lifecycle of scientific research—from ideation to implementation, writing, and review. In versions 0.1.1 and below, a critical path traversal vulnerability has been identified in the review_paper function in backend/app.py. The vulnerability allows malicious users to access arbitrary PDF files on the server by providing crafted file paths that bypass the intended security restrictions. This vulnerability allows attackers to: read any PDF file accessible to the server process, potentially access sensitive documents outside the intended directory and perform reconnaissance on the server's file system structure. This issue does not currently have a fix.
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Meta Information
Published
2025-08-09
Last Modified
2025-08-11
Generated
2026-05-06
AI Q&A
2025-08-09
EPSS Evaluated
2026-05-05
NVD
EUVD
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
ulab-uiuc tiny-scientist *
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-22 The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
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AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?

This vulnerability is a critical path traversal issue in the review_paper function of the Tiny-Scientist framework (version 0.1.1 and below). It allows malicious users to provide crafted file paths that bypass security restrictions, enabling them to access arbitrary PDF files on the server, including sensitive documents outside the intended directory.


How can this vulnerability impact me? :

The vulnerability can allow attackers to read any PDF file accessible to the server process, potentially exposing sensitive documents and allowing attackers to perform reconnaissance on the server's file system structure. This could lead to unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.


What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?

Since there is no current fix for this vulnerability, immediate mitigation steps include restricting access to the vulnerable Tiny-Scientist application, especially the review_paper function, limiting file permissions to prevent unauthorized reading of PDF files, monitoring server logs for suspicious file path access attempts, and isolating the server to reduce exposure until a patch is available.


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