Description

Unauthenticated Local File Inclusion in Barista <= 2.5.1 versions.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-13T14:17:08.917Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-13T14:17:08.917Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An unauthenticated Local File Inclusion (LFI) vulnerability has been identified in the Barista application affecting all versions up to and including 2.5.1. This security flaw arises from improper input validation within the application logic, allowing remote, unauthenticated attackers to manipulate file path parameters supplied to the vulnerable component.\nThe primary impact of this vulnerability includes the unauthorized reading of sensitive files residing on the underlying host operating system, such as system configuration files, application source code, and potentially credentials or cryptographic keys depending on file system permissions and process privileges.\nBecause the vulnerability is unauthenticated and exposed over the network, malicious actors do not require prior access or valid credentials to initiate an attack. Exploitation relies solely on crafting HTTP requests containing directory traversal sequences (such as dot-dot-slash patterns) or absolute file paths directed at the vulnerable file retrieval mechanism.\nThe risk implications are severe, as successful exploitation bypasses access control boundaries and can facilitate reconnaissance, credential theft, or further compromise of the host environment. Organizations utilizing affected versions of Barista face immediate exposure if the application is accessible via the network without upstream filtering or strict boundary defenses.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is classified as a Local File Inclusion (LFI) flaw affecting Barista versions <= 2.5.1. The root cause stems from the application accepting user-supplied input intended to reference local resources without implementing adequate sanitization, canonicalization, or restriction mechanisms.\nThe vulnerable component fails to properly validate whether requested file paths reside within the intended application web root or secure storage directory. Consequently, when an unauthenticated HTTP request is processed by the application endpoint, malicious input containing directory traversal sequences (e.g., ../) or absolute paths is directly passed to underlying file system APIs.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, an unauthenticated attacker identifies the vulnerable endpoint responsible for rendering or retrieving local files. Second, the attacker crafts an HTTP request modifying the target file parameter to include directory traversal sequences designed to escape the intended directory context. Third, the application processes the tainted input and invokes file-handling functions to read the requested target from the underlying file system. Finally, the contents of the targeted local file are included in the HTTP response returned to the client.\nNetwork exposure is direct, as the affected endpoint is accessible over the network without requiring any pre-existing authentication or session tokens. The privilege requirements for the attacker are non-existent (unauthenticated), and the privileges under which the file is read correspond to the execution rights of the Barista application process on the host operating system.\nPayload behavior typically involves requesting sensitive system files such as /etc/passwd on Unix-like environments or sensitive configuration files relative to the application deployment path. Post-exploitation impact includes information disclosure, exposure of internal application structure, extraction of sensitive credentials, and potential facilitation of remote code execution if coupled with other application flaws such as log poisoning or access to writable inclusion vectors."
}