BaseDraft

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Category: other

Description

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

Common consequences· 2

  • Confidentiality / Integrity / Access Control — Read Files or Directories, Modify Files or Directories, Bypass Protection Mechanism
    An attacker may be able to traverse the file system to unintended locations and read or overwrite the contents of unexpected files. If the files are used for a security mechanism then an attacker may be able to bypass the mechanism.
  • Other — Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
    Windows simple shortcuts, sometimes referred to as soft links, can be exploited remotely since a ".LNK" file can be uploaded like a normal file. This can enable remote execution.

Potential mitigations· 1

  • [Architecture and Design]

Related CAPEC attack patterns· 4

CAPEC-132CAPEC-17CAPEC-35CAPEC-76

References

  1. https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/59.html

Exploits (incoming)4

TypeTargetConfidenceTier
AttackPatternUsing Malicious Filescapec-17100%live
AttackPatternSymlink Attackcapec-132100%live
AttackPatternManipulating Web Input to File System Callscapec-76100%live
AttackPatternLeverage Executable Code in Non-Executable Filescapec-35100%live

(incoming)49

TypeTargetConfidenceTier
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-0377cve-2025-03770%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-15314cve-2025-153140%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-20003cve-2025-200030%live
VulnerabilityMicrosoft Windows Storage Link Following Vulnerabilitycve-2025-213910%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-23267cve-2025-232670%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-30457cve-2025-304570%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-34191cve-2025-341910%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-41666cve-2025-416660%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-41667cve-2025-416670%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-41668cve-2025-416680%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-43220cve-2025-432200%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-43257cve-2025-432570%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-47181cve-2025-471810%live
VulnerabilityGit Link Following Vulnerabilitycve-2025-483840%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-48582cve-2025-485820%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-49739cve-2025-497390%live
VulnerabilityMicrosoft Windows Link Following Vulnerabilitycve-2025-607100%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-66277cve-2025-662770%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-67487cve-2025-674870%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-24842cve-2026-248420%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-32013cve-2026-320130%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-33001cve-2026-330010%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-34603cve-2026-346030%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-34604cve-2026-346040%live
VulnerabilityMicrosoft Defender Link Following Vulnerabilitycve-2026-410910%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-41364cve-2026-413640%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-41397cve-2026-413970%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-41433cve-2026-414330%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-43989cve-2026-439890%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-43998cve-2026-439980%live

Showing top 30 of 49 by confidence. Click any target to see the full neighbourhood.

Related by meaning· 6

Nearest entities by semantic similarity across the cs-graph corpus.

CWE
Windows Shortcut Following (.LNK)
CWE
Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CWE
Path Traversal: '\..\filename'
CWE
Improper Handling of File Names that Identify Virtual Resources
CWE
Path Traversal: '/dir/../filename'
CWE
Path Traversal: 'dir/../../filename'
Sourced from MITRE CWE 4.20. Curated for EU compliance use cases by Adam Lundqvist, Founder at SQUR.