CVE-2026-65700
CVE-2026-65700 — h2oGPT 0.2.1 Path Traversal via OpenAI-compatible Files API
h2oGPT through 0.2.1 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the OpenAI-compatible files API that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to read, write, and delete arbitrary files accessible to the server process by supplying traversal sequences in the bearer token. The get_user_dir function in openai_server/backend_utils.py uses the bearer token string unsanitized as a path component via os.path.join, and because the default API key is EMPTY authentication is bypassed, enabling attackers to traverse outside the intended user directory through the file content, delete, and upload endpoints to achieve remote code execution by writing to startup hooks or application-loaded files.
Published Updated Sources: cvelistV5, VulnCheck
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.
Exploitation
Unreported
no source claims exploitation
EPSS
2%
chance of exploitation in 30 days
CVSS base
9.8
CRITICAL
CISA SSVC assessment
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Exploitation
PoC
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
Yes
can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component
Affected scope
The catalog records vendors and products as separate lists, not pairs, so which product belongs to which vendor is not something this page can say.
Vendors (1)
Products (1)
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.8 | CVSS 3.1 | CRITICAL | — | — | cvelistV5 |
Weakness & attack patterns
- CWE-22
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.
- Search application, proxy, and WAF logs for requests touching /backend_utils.py.
References
2 on the record
- github.com/geo-chen/oss/blob/main/h2ogpt.md
technical-description, exploit
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/h2ogpt-path-traversal-via-openai-compatible-files-api
third-party-advisory
Elsewhere on this site
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.