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Medium, CVSS 6.3amended

Starlette has Path Traversal vulnerability in StaticFiles

CVE-2023-29159GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px

What to do

Vendor fix available. Upgrade each affected package to the fixed version on its release line (starlette 0.27.0), redeploy, then verify what is actually installed.

This page has no inventory attached, so it cannot say whether you are affected. A vendor fix is not proof that your deployment is fixed.

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Affected packages

  • PyPI starlette

    Affected
    >= 0.13.5, < 0.27.0
    Fixed in
    0.27.0

Sources

Severity and exploitation
Exploitation
No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.
CVSS 4.0
6.3 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N · score source
EPSS
  • CVE-2023-29159: 2.05% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 81.25 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.
Source description

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary When using StaticFiles, if there's a file or directory that starts with the same name as the StaticFiles directory, that file or directory is also exposed via StaticFiles which is a path traversal vulnerability. Details The root cause of this issue is the usage of os.path.commonprefix(): https://github.com/encode/starlette/blob/4bab981d9e870f6cee1bd4cd59b87ddaf355b2dc/starlette/staticfiles.py#L172-L174 As stated in the Python documentation (https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.path.html#os.path.commonprefix) this function returns the longest prefix common to paths. When passing a path like /static/../static1.txt, os.path.commonprefix([fullpath, directory]) returns ./static which is the common part of ./static1.txt and ./static, It refers to /static/../static1.txt because it is considered in the staticfiles directory. As a result, it becomes possible to view files that should not be open to the public. The solution is to use os.path.commonpath as the Python documentation…

Dates and revisions
Published by the source
Last modified by the source
Source last checked
  1. Revision 3 · amended ·

    Amended from ghsa record GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px

  2. Revision 2 · amended ·

    Reviewed OSV alias/range/CVSS4 correction; package source scopes and original publication preserved. No customer finding resolved.

  3. Revision 1 · created ·

    Published from osv record GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px

Agent brief

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-29159

Advisory: Starlette has Path Traversal vulnerability in StaticFiles
IDs: CVE-2023-29159, GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-29159 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:25 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.3)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: starlette 0.27.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI starlette: affected >= 0.13.5, < 0.27.0; fixed in 0.27.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show starlette`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on starlette.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px (OSV record GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px lists affected ranges: PyPI starlette >=0.13.5 <0.27.0 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-v5gw-mw7f-84px lists affected ranges: PyPI starlette >=0.13.5 <0.27.0)

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